How to promote the introduction of facility dogs in children's hospitals-from a bacteriological point of view-

Research Project

Project/Area Number	18K10389
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Section	一般
Review Section	Basic Section 58070:Lifelong developmental nursing-related
Research Institution	Niigata College of Nursing
Principal Investigator	Sakaihara Mitsuo 新潟県立看護大学, 看護学部, 非常勤講師 (30332464)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	エルダトンサイモン新潟県立看護大学, 看護学部, 准教授 (30512066)
Project Period (FY)	2018-04-01 – 2023-03-31
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2022)
Budget Amount *help	¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000) Fiscal Year 2020: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000) Fiscal Year 2019: ¥520,000 (Direct Cost: ¥400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥120,000) Fiscal Year 2018: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
Keywords	皮膚細菌叢 / メタゲノム解析 / 盲導犬 / 介助犬 / ファシリティドッグ
Outline of Final Research Achievements	We investigated the effects of environmental factors on the formation process of skin flora in dogs. Eight puppies born in the same month were studied. Specimens were collected from two sites, the parietal region and the left cheek region, and the skin flora was analyzed using metagenomic analysis. We statistically compared α-diversity (species richness and evenness) and β-diversity (similarity of bacterial flora structure) before and after changes in the breeding environment. In the parietal region,α-diversity increased after compared to before, and a significant difference was observed in β-diversity between before and after in both parietal and left cheek regions. It is considered that the change in the breeding environment increased the diversity of the puppies' skin flora.
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	犬介在療法に関しては、発達障害など精神障害に対する治療効果に関して研究が進みつつある。犬の場合、馬介在療法と異なる点は、その活動場所が病院や学校など不特定多数の人が出入りする場であり、それらの人々と共生する必要がある。このため、その普及を促進するには治療効果の検証のみならず、衛生面の安全性に関しても科学的根拠をもって証明する必要がある。犬の皮膚の健康を保つには皮膚細菌叢の多様性を保つことが重要であり、本研究は多様性の形成に子犬の飼育環境が影響することを示した点で意義があるといえる。