Yeast is well known for its immunomodulating and gut stimulating effects, but its effects on postprandial amino acid (AA) absorption in dogs has not been measured. This study used 20 dogs allocated to 1 of 2 dietary treatment groups. Treatment dogs received the yeast supplement for 10 wk, and control dogs no supplement. The serum AA concentrations after a meal were quantified on 4 occasions, pre-treatment, twice at regular intervals throughout the study, and at the end of the treatment period. A fasted blood sample was collected, followed by samples 1, 2, and 4 h post-meal. There was no effect of treatment on any AA, though a significant treatment*week*timepoint interaction effect was observed for His and Trp. An overall increase was observed in many AA for all dogs at week 8 compared to week −1. Three dogs, whose gut permeability and markers of inflammation were elevated at baseline and previously reported, had greater concentrations of most AA at week 8 compared to week −1. These results suggest that supplemental yeast can have a beneficial effect on peripheral AA availability in dogs with poor gut health and does not impact peripheral AA availability and serum concentrations in otherwise healthy dogs.

Read the full article in the Journal of Animal Science.