this detailed description of preferred embodiments is intended only to acquaint others skilled in the art with applicants &# 39 ; invention , its principles , and its practical application so that others skilled in the art may adapt and apply the invention in its numerous forms , as they may be best suited to the requirements of a particular use . this detailed description and its specific examples , while indicating preferred embodiments of this invention , are intended for purposes of illustration only . this invention , therefore , is not limited to the preferred embodiments described in this specification , and may be variously modified . it has been found as set forth in this invention that the inclusion of a microbial exopolysaccharide in a mammal &# 39 ; s diet can be useful to reduce or prevent diarrhea . specifically , the administration of microbial exopolysaccharides has been shown to prevent diarrhea in a mammal that has a tendency to have diarrhea from time to time and to reduce diarrhea in a mammal already experiencing diarrhea . in particular , for mammals experiencing diarrhea , the reduction in diarrhea can vary widely . for example , applicants have discovered that the administration of the compositions and methods of the present invention to a mammal experiencing diarrhea can result in a simple visual observation of reduction to a statistically significant reduction to a virtual elimination or rollback of the diarrhea state . further , such beneficial effects have been observed in almost all etiologies which are at least partially characterized by a state of diarrhea including etiologies that are unknown or induced through a bacterial , viral ( both preferably short term ) or a dietary regimen . it is contemplated that the compositions and methods of this invention may be useful for a variety of mammals , including humans , non - human mammals such as non - human primates ( e . g ., monkeys , chimpanzees , etc . ), companion animals ( e . g ., dogs , cats , equine , etc . ), farm animals ( e . g ., goats , sheep , swine , bovine , etc . ), laboratory animals ( e . g . mice , rats , etc .) and wild and zoo animals ( e . g ., wolves , bears , deer , etc .). in some embodiments of this invention , for example , the mammal is a human . in other embodiments of this invention , the mammal is a companion animal . in other embodiments of this invention , the mammal is a dog . in other embodiments , the mammal is a cat . this invention contemplates a wide variety of microbial exopolysaccharide - containing compositions . contemplated compositions include , for example , pharmaceutical compositions , foods , supplements , treats and toys ( particularly chewable and consumable toys ). in some embodiments , the microbial exopolysaccharide - containing composition is a food . although both liquid and solid foods are contemplated , solid foods are typically preferred . where the food is solid , the microbial exopolysaccharide may be coated on the food , incorporated into the food , or both . contemplated foods include both dry foods or wet foods . in one contemplated embodiment , the composition is a food for animal consumption and comprises both a food component and a microbial exopolysaccharide . in a preferred embodiment , the food component is selected from the group consisting of meat , a meat by - product , a daily product and an egg product . in another preferred embodiment , the food component is sufficient to meet the nutritional needs of a cat or a dog . in another embodiment , the composition comprises an animal feed supplement . supplements include , for example , a feed used with another feed to improve the nutritive balance or performance of the total . contemplated supplements include compositions that are fed undiluted as a supplement to other feeds , offered free choice with other parts of an animal &# 39 ; s ration that are separately available , or diluted and mixed with an animal &# 39 ; s regular feed to produce a complete feed . the aafco , for example , provides a discussion relating to supplements in the american feed control officials . incorp . official publication , p . 220 ( 2003 ). supplements may be in various forms including , for example , powders , liquids , syrups , pills , encapsulated compositions , etc . in another embodiment , the composition comprises an animal treat . treats include , for example , compositions that are given to an animal to entice the animal to eat during a non - meal time . contemplated treats for canines include , for example , dog bones . treats may be nutritional , wherein the composition comprises one or more nutrients , and may , for example , have a composition as described above for food . non - nutritional treats encompass any other treats that are non - toxic . the microbial exopolysaccharide can be coated onto the treat , incorporated into the treat , or both . in another embodiment , the composition comprises a toy . toys include , for example , chewable toys . contemplated toys for dogs include , for example , artificial bones . the microbial exopolysaccharide can form a coating on the surface of the toy or on the surface of a component of the toy , be incorporated partially or fully throughout the toy , or both . in a contemplated embodiment , the microbial exopolysaccharide is orally accessible by the intended user . there a wide range of suitable toys currently marketed . see , e . g ., u . s . pat . no . 5 , 339 , 771 ( and references disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 339 , 771 ). see also , e . g ., u . s . pat . no . 5 , 419 , 283 ( and references disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 419 , 283 ). it should be recognized that this invention contemplates both partially consumable toys ( e . g ., toys comprising plastic components ) and fully consumable toys ( e . g ., rawhides and various artificial bones ). it should be further recognized that this invention contemplates toys for both human and non - human use , particularly for companion , farm , and zoo animal use , and particularly for dog or cat use . examples of suitable microbial exopolysaccharides for use in the present invention generally include those microbial exopolysaccharides synthesized from bacteria selected from the group consisting of sphingomonas paucimobilis , agrobacterium biovar , xanthomonas campestris , alcaligenes sp ., aureobasidium pullulans , acetobacter xylinum , sclerotium rolfsii , schizophyllum commune , saccharomyces cerevisiae and sclerotium glucanicum . more particularly , suitable microbial exopolysaccharides may include , for example , rhamsan , curdlan , xanthan gum , scleroglucan , ps - 10 gum , ps - 21 gum , ps - 53 gum , polysaccharides from alcaligenes sp ., ps - 7 gum , gellan gum , curdlan , bacterial alginate , dextran , pullulan , baker &# 39 ; s yeast glycan , bacterial cellulose , 6 - deoxy - hexose - containing polysaccharides and mixtures of the above . in a preferred embodiment , the microbial exopolysaccharide comprises a gellan gum . gellan gum is a linear polysaccharide made from fermentation by sphingomonas paucimobilis ( elodea ) ( atcc31461 ). industrial preparation of the gum can be carried out by inoculating sphingomonas paucimobilis into a fermentation broth containing glucose , glucuronic acid and rhamnose to form a tetrasaccharide repeating unit in a ratio of 2 : 1 : 1 . in its native form , gellan gum is highly acylated with 1 . 5 acyl group , acetyl and glycerate , per repeating unit . modifications of the acyl groups both in number and type can be made as long as the basic anti diarrhea activity of the gellan gum is not significantly diminished . these different forms can be obtained from cp kelco under different tradenames including gelrite ®, k9a50 and other kelco gellan gums including but not limited to , kelcogel lt ®, kelcogel f , and kelcogel lt100 ®. as used throughout the specifications “ gellan ” refers to the natural gum or acyl modified gum as long as the anti - diarrhea function is maintained . in the methods of the present invention , the microbial exopolysaccharide can be administered to the mammal , preferably one in need of such administration in any one of many ways , such as oral , rectal , and the like . preferably , the microbial exopolysaccharide is administered orally . the microbial exopolysaccharide can be administered in a wet diet , either incorporated therein or on the surface of any diet component , such as , by spraying or precipitation thereon . it can be present in the nutritional diet per se or in a snack or a treat . it can also be present in the liquid portion of the diet such as water or another fluid . the microbial exopolysaccharide can be administered as a powder solid or as a liquid such as a gel . if desired the microbial exopolysaccharide can be orally administered in a pharmaceutical dosage form such as a capsule , tablet , caplet , syringe , and the like . within the dosage form the microbial exopolysaccharide can be present as a powder or a liquid such as a gel . any of the usual pharmaceutical carriers can be employed such as water , glucose , sucrose and the like together with the microbial exopolysaccharide . with respect to administering the microbial exopolysaccharide to a dog or cat , the daily dosage minimum is at least about 0 . 1 % by weight of food or at least about 0 . 05 g / kg body weight , preferably at least about 0 . 2 % by weight , most preferably at least about 0 . 5 % by weight or at least about 0 . 3 g / kg body weight . the maximum amount is below that which can bring about significant undesirable side effects . generally no more than about 1 . 5 or 2 % by weight of food and no more than about 4 % by weight of the food or 1 or 2 g / kg body weight can be employed . a minimum dosage for administering the microbial exopolysaccharide to a human is about 0 . 05 g / kg body weight or preferably at least about 0 . 1 g / kg body weight . the maximum amount is below that which can bring about significant undesirable side effects . generally no more than about 1 or 2 g / kg body weight of about 4 % by weight of the food can be employed . it is important to note that even when the cause of the diarrhea seems to be a food component , the component need not be removed completely or to any great extent from the diet for the microbial exopolysaccharide to be effective in combating the diarrhea . the following examples are merely illustrative , and not limiting to this disclosure in any way . twelve adult domestic shorthair cats ( eight males and four females ) with chronic diarrhea were placed on a canned control and test diet . the diets were similar in composition except for the substitution of the 0 . 2 % kelgum with 1 % gellan gum blend ( 37 % gellan gum , 33 % sucrose , 18 % calcium lactate ) or 0 . 4 % pure gellan gum . during the study the cats which were normally on prednisone were weaned off the prednisone 5 days prior to starting the study . the composition of the diets are shown in table 1 : in a double crossover design , 6 cats were fed the control diet and 6 cats were fed a test diet for 14 days followed by a washout period of another 14 days when all cats in the study were fed a washout diet . the cats were then crossed over to either the control or test diet for another 14 days . stools were observed and graded every day during the study . stools were observed for the physical condition and graded based on the physical nature of the fecal matter . grades were assigned a number ranging from 1 to 5 as follows : grade 1 : greater than two - thirds of the feces in the defecation are liquid . the feces have lost all form , appearing as a puddle or squirt . grade 2 : solid - liquid feces are an intermediate between soft and liquid feces . approximately equal amounts of feces in defecation are soft and liquid . grade 3 : greater than two - thirds of the feces in a defecation are soft . the feces retain enough form to pile but have lost their firm cylindrical appearance . grade 4 : finn - soft feces are an intermediate between the grades of firm and soft . approximately equal amounts of feces in a defecation are firm and soft . grade 5 : greater than two - thirds of the feces in a defecation are firm . the feces have a cylindrical shape with little flattening . generally , grades 1 and 2 are unacceptable while grades 4 and 5 are preferred . results of the study showed that there was a significant decrease in the frequency of stool scores 1 and 2 with consumption of the test diet compared to control diet . in particular , 23 % of the feces from cats consuming the control diet had a stool score of 1 or 2 whereas only 4 % of the feces from cats consuming the test diet scored a 1 or 2 . further , there was a large increase in the frequency of stool scores rated 4 and 5 from cats consuming the test diet as compared to cats consuming the control diet . 49 %, of the feces from cats consuming the test diet rated a 4 or 5 whereas only 27 % of the feces from cats consuming the control diet rated a 4 or 5 . prior to beginning the test diet , the average stool score was 2 . 7 . with the test diet , the average stool score increased to 3 . 9 . 12 cats with chronic diarrhea were used in the study . 6 cats were each fed test diets or control diets similar to those described in example 1 for 14 days . the test diets differed from those described in example 1 as they included 0 , 0 . 2 , 0 . 3 and 0 . 40 ) gellan gum in the formula respectively . stools were observed daily and graded as described in example 1 throughout the experiment . table 2 shows the percent occurrence of the different types of stool within each diet . the results showed that gellan gum at a concentration of 0 . 4 % of the diet was able to prevent the incidence of diarrhea ( stools 1 - 2 ) while at a concentration of 0 . 1 to 0 . 3 % of the diet , gellan gum was able to reduce the incidence of diarrhea by 2 fold compared to control . dogs fed a grocery brand chunks and gravy formula have been shown to have a significant incidence of diarrhea . this model was used to test the efficacy of gellan gum in reducing the occurrence of diarrhea in dogs . dogs were fed the grocery brand chunks and gravy formula for 7 days in the control group . in the test group , the dogs were fed the same chunks and gravy formula with 0 . 4 % gellan gum added to the food in the form of a gel . stool were observed for 7 days and graded as described in example 1 . table 3 shows the results of the test wherein adding gellan gum to the diet prevented the occurrence of diarrhea in this model . the experiment described in example 3 was conducted using a different chunks and gravy formula for the model of canine diarrhea . further , gellan gum was incorporated in the gravy formula at different levels . the gravy was formulated with 1 % guar gum for the control and test diets . stools were observed daily and graded as described in example 1 . the results are shown below : the results showed that 0 . 1 % gellan gum was able to decrease the incidence of diarrhea to 10 % compared to 27 % in the control . there were little to no incidence of a stool rating of 1 ( watery diarrhea ). all the references cited above are incorporated by reference into this patent . the words “ comprise ”, “ comprises ”, and “ comprising ” are to be interpreted inclusively rather than exclusively . the above detailed description of preferred embodiments is intended only to acquaint others skilled in the art with the invention , its principles , and its practical application so that others skilled in the art may adapt and apply the invention in its numerous forms , as they may be best suited to the requirements of a particular use . this invention , therefore is not limited to the above embodiments , and may be variously modified .
compositions comprising a microbial exopolysaccharide are provided as well as methods for preventing or reducing diarrhea in a mammal wherein the method comprises administering a therapeutically amount of a microbial exopolysaccharide to a mammal in need thereof .