The canine gut microbiome is associated with higher risk of gastric dilatation-volvulus and high risk genetic variants of the immune system.

The microbiome in GDV was altered by an expansion of a minor lineage and was associated with specific alleles of both innate and adaptive immunity genes. These associations are consistent with our hypothesis that immune genes may play a role in predisposition to GDV by altering the gut microbiome. Further research will be required to directly test the causal relationships of immune genes, the gut microbiome and GDV.