Feeding ecology of mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx) in campo animal reserve,Cameroon

A field study on the ecology of mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx) was carried out for 28 months in Cameroon. Fresh food remnants and large quantities of fresh feces were collected by following the groups. Analyses of these products indicated that fruit (including seeds), monocotyledonous plant leaves and insects (especially ants and termites), were frequently eaten. Mandrills mostly ate the plant and animal foods in the lower forest stratum and on the ground. Fallen seeds and monocotyledonous plant leaves were eaten more frequently in the minor fruiting season than in the major fruiting season presumably to compensate for the shortage of fresh fruit during the former. Daily travel distances were shorter during the minor fruiting season than during the major fruiting season, because in the minor fruiting season mandrills forage for small food items, such as the new leaves and piths of monocotyledons and fallen seeds which are sparsely distributed on the ground, while in the major fruiting season they search for widely distributed food such as fruit. The daily pattern of group movement and a food intake experiment suggest that mandrills move and feed continuously throughout the day. Use of fallen seeds and monocotyledonous plant leaves appears to enable mandrills to maintain a terrestrial life in the tropical rain forest. The feeding and ranging characteristics of mandrills are basically similar to those of other baboon species in open land, though their environments differ extremely.     

粪菌移植对非酒精性脂肪肝大鼠肠黏膜的保护作用

目的探讨粪菌移植(fecal microbiota transplantation,FMT)对非酒精性脂肪性肝病(nonalcoholic fatty liver disease,NAFLD)大鼠肠黏膜屏障的保护作用。方法健康雄性SD大鼠30只,随机分为3组:正常对照组(control group,C组)10只,予正常饮食;高脂模型组(model group,M组)10只、粪菌移植治疗组(treatment group,T组)10只,M组和T组均予高脂饮食。T组予粪菌液灌胃2 mL/次,隔日1次,粪菌液灌胃的前一天晚上及当天早上均予奥美拉唑镁肠溶片灌胃;C组及M组同时予奥美拉唑及生理盐水灌胃。喂养12周后实验结束,测定血中TG、ALT、AST水平;苏丹黑B染色观察肝脏病理学变化;取回肠末端肠组织行HE染色及扫描电镜观察肠黏膜结构变化。结果与M组大鼠相比,T组血清TG、ALT、AST水平降低,差异有统计学意义(均P0.05)。T组大鼠肝脏苏丹黑B染色可见肝细胞内脂肪沉积明显减少,脂肪变性程度较M组减轻。T组大鼠肠组织HE染色肠绒毛轻度水肿,排列较整齐、紧密。扫描电镜中可见T组大鼠肠绒毛形态较饱满,排列比较紧密,微绒毛之间的间隙变小。结论粪菌移植能改善肝功能,减轻肝脏脂肪变,降低肠道通透性,改善肠黏膜屏障功能。     

粪菌移植和益生菌在复发性艰难梭菌感染和炎症性肠病中的应用进展

聚集在人体肠道的菌群对维持机体正常的生理功能具有重要作用,肠道菌群的失调会导致复发性艰难梭菌感染及炎症性肠病等疾病。粪菌移植是将健康供者肠道内的功能菌群转移到患病个体的肠道内,重建患者的肠道微生态环境,从而达到治疗的目的。研究发现,粪菌移植在治疗复发性艰难梭菌感染方面表现出较高的治愈率,同时对炎症性肠病有积极的疗效。益生菌是一类能发挥健康作用的活性微生物,当机体摄入足够数量的益生菌,益生菌能在宿主肠道内定植,可以恢复并维持宿主肠道菌群的平衡。益生菌可作为预防复发性艰难梭菌感染的辅助治疗,同时在缓解炎症性肠病方面也有较好的效果。     

Interaction of CP levels in maternal and nursery diets,and its effect on performance,protein digestibility,and serum urea levels in piglets

Reduced protein levels in nursery diets have been associated with a lower risk of postweaning diarrhea, but the interaction with CP levels in maternal diet on the performance of the offspring remains unclear. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of protein content in sow gestation and piglet nursery diets on the performance of the piglets until slaughter. This was studied in a 2 × 2 factorial trial (35 sows, 209 piglets), with higher or lower (H or L) dietary CP in sow diets (168 vs 122 g CP/kg) during late gestation. A standard lactation feed was provided for all sows (160 g CP/kg). For both sow treatments, half of the litters received a higher or lower CP in the piglet nursery diet (210 vs 166 g CP/kg). This resulted in four possible treatment combinations: HH, HL, LH and LL, with sow treatment as first and piglet treatment as second letter. For each phase, all diets were iso-energetic and had a similar level of essential amino acids. P_s*p is the p-value for the interaction effect between sow and piglet treatment. In the nursery phase (3.5–9 weeks of age), a tendency toward interaction between piglet and sow treatments with feed efficiency (P_s*p = 0.08) was observed with HH having the highest gain:feed ratio (G:F) (0.74 ± 0.01), LH the lowest (0.70 ± 0.01) and the other two groups intermediate. In the growing-finishing phase, an interaction was observed between the piglet and sow diets with decreased G:F for LH (P_s*p = 0.04) and a tendency toward interaction with increased daily feed intake for LH (P_s*p = 0.07). The sow diet showed a tendency toward a long-lasting effect on the dressing percentage and meat thickness of the offspring, which was higher for the progeny of H sows (P_s < 0.01 and P_s = 0.02, respectively). At 23 weeks, serum urea concentrations tended to be lower for the HH and LL groups (P_s*p = 0.07). Fecal consistency scores were higher at day 10–day 14 after weaning for piglets from L sows (P_s = 0.03 and P_s < 0.01, respectively). At day 7 after weaning, fecal consistency score was higher for piglets fed the higher protein diet (P_p < 0.01). At 8 weeks of age, the apparent total tract digestibility of CP (ATTD_CP) interacted between piglet and sow diet (P_s*p = 0.02), with HH showing the highest digestibility values. In conclusion, the protein levels in sow late-gestation and piglet nursery diets interacted with feed efficiency, ATTD_CP and serum urea concentrations in the nursery phase.     

Noninvasive Method of DNA Isolation From Fecal Epithelial Tissue of Dairy Animals

A novel noninvasive genomic DNA isolation protocol from fecal tissue, by the proteinase K digestion and guanidine hydrochloride extraction method, was assessed for the genotyping of cattle and buffalo. The epithelial tissues present on the surface of the feces were used as source for isolation of genomic DNA. The DNA isolated from fecal tissue was found to be similar as those obtained from other body tissues such as skin, brain, liver, kidney, and muscle. The quality of DNA was checked by agarose gel electrophoresis and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We successfully amplified a 320 bp MHC class II DRB gene and a 125 bp mt-DNA D-loop region from isolated genomic DNA of cattle. Thus, the DNA isolated using this method was suitable for common molecular biology methods, such as restriction enzyme digestion and genotyping of dairy animals through PCR.     

圈养雄獐领域行为和粪便睾酮水平变化的关系

2011年8月到2012年4月间,在上海市浦东新区华夏公园獐重引入试点,采用目标取样、扫描取样和全事件记录法,对圈养条件下6只成体雄獐(Hydropotes inermis)的6种领域行为进行观察,并利用放射免疫分析法(RIA)测定雄獐粪便中的睾酮水平变化.结果表明,雄獐的许多领域行为发生频次表现出明显的月间变化,包括打斗、威胁、取代、追逐和粪尿标记;擦额标记行为频次虽月间差异不显著,但与其他领域行为一样在11月份出现频次峰值.发情期(2011年10月～2012年1月)和非发情期(2011年9月、2012年2～4月),打斗、威胁、粪尿标记和擦额标记行为发生频次差异显著;取代和追逐行为频次差异不显著.6种领域行为的发生频次均在发情期明显高于非发情期.粪便睾酮含量在发情期和非发情期差异显著,发情期明显高于非发情期,其含量在12月份达到峰值(51.16±9.85) ng/g.雄獐的威胁、擦额标记、粪尿标记和打斗行为发生频次与睾酮水平呈显著的正相关性,而取代和追逐行为与睾酮水平变化不具有显著相关性.     

人粪样中雌马酚含量调查及其与菌群结构相关性研究

目的 调查人粪样中大豆素和雌马酚的含量及其与年龄和性别的关系;了解人粪样中雌马酚含量高低与菌群结构的关系.方法 采用高效液相色谱(HPLC)对来自杭州的125份粪样进行大豆素和雌马酚含量检测,并使用生物统计学软件SPSS进行统计学分析;使用PCR-DGGE对粪样中雌马酚含量的高低与菌群结构的关系进行初步研究.结果 HPLC检测结果表明,尽管粪样中雌马酚含量的高低与性别关系不大,但却与年龄大小存在很大的相关性,41 ～50岁年龄组的粪样中雌马酚含量明显高于其他年龄组.PCR-DGGE结果表明,粪样中雌马酚含量的高低与菌群结构无明显相关性.结论 人粪样中雌马酚含量的高低与年龄大小有很强的相关性.     

Effects of Proton Pump Inhibitors on the Gastrointestinal Microbiota in Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease

Proton pump inhibitors(PPIs) are commonly used to lessen symptoms in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD). However, the effects of PPI therapy on the gastrointestinal microbiota in GERD patients remain unclear. We examined the association between the PPI usage and the microbiota present in gastric mucosal and fecal samples from GERD patients and healthy controls(HCs) using 16 S rRNA gene sequencing. GERD patients taking PPIs were further divided into short-term and long-term PPI user groups. We showed that PPI administration lowered the relative bacterial diversity of the gastric microbiota in GERD patients. Compared to the non-PPIuser and HC groups, higher abundances of Planococcaceae, Oxalobacteraceae, and Sphingomonadaceae were found in the gastric microbiota from the PPI-user group. In addition, the Methylophilus genus was more highly abundant in the long-term PPI user group than in the short-term PPI-user group. Despite the absence of differences in alpha diversity, there were significant differences in the fecal bacterial composition of between GERD patients taking PPIs and those not taking PPIs. There was a higher abundance of Streptococcaceae, Veillonellaceae, Acidaminococcaceae,Micrococcaceae, and Flavobacteriaceae present in the fecal microbiota from the PPI-user group than those from the non-PPI-user and HC groups. Additionally, a significantly higher abundance of Ruminococcus was found in GERD patients on long-term PPI medication than that on shortterm PPI medication. Our study indicates that PPI administration in patients with GERD has a significant effect on the abundance and structure of the gastric mucosal microbiota but only on the composition of the fecal microbiota.     

Pixel by pixel: real-time observation and quantification of passive flotation speeds of three common equine endoparasite egg types

The efficacy of anthelmintic treatments against populations of endoparasites infecting livestock throughout the world is decreasing. To mitigate this, the use of fecal egg counts is recommended to determine both the necessity, and to ensure the appropriate choice, of anthelmintic treatment. Traditionally, and in order to facilitate easier identification and/or enumeration, samples are analysed after separating eggs from other fecal particulates by exposing them to a solution with a density higher than that of the eggs, but lower than the remaining fecal contents. While many parasite egg flotation protocols exist, little is known about the characteristics of these eggs with respect to their movement through a flotation solution. In this study, we have demonstrated a novel method for the observation and quantification of microscopic (65–100 µm) objects as they experience unassisted flotation. This also represents, to our knowledge for the first time, that the flotation of parasite eggs has been observed and their movement characteristics quantified as they float through solution. Particle tracking and video analysis software were utilised to automatically detect and track the movement of individual eggs as they floated. Three 30 s videos and one 2 min video of each egg type were analysed. If the first 30 s of video were discounted, the differences in mean flotation speed among all videos was statistically significant between egg types (P = 0.0004). Strongyle type eggs (n = 201) moved the fastest with a mean 51.08 µm/s (95% confidence interval: 47.54–54.62). This was followed by Parascaris spp. (n = 131) and Anoplocephala perfoliata eggs (n = 322), with mean speeds of 44.43 µm/s (95% confidence interval: 39.47–49.4) and 31.11 µm/s (95% confidence interval: 29.6–32.61), respectively. This method for evaluating the mean speed of passive flotation may represent a first step towards further optimizing fecal egg flotation and be of interest to parasitologists and veterinary practitioners.     

鄱阳湖越冬白鹤在农业用地的食物组成

白鹤(Grus leucogeranus)是IUCN极危物种,全球仅存3 500～4 000只,其中约98%的个体在鄱阳湖越冬。以前白鹤在鄱阳湖主要在浅水生境挖掘苦草(Vallisneria spp.)的冬芽为食。然而,近年来农业用地已成为白鹤的重要觅食地。目前对于白鹤在农业用地的食物组成尚不清楚。本研究采用粪便显微镜检法对2017年11月至2018年4月采集的70份白鹤粪便样品进行分析。结果表明,白鹤的食物来源于10科15种植物,其中,水稻(Oryza sativa)、莲藕(Nelumbo nucifera)和紫云英(Astragalus sinicus)为最主要的食物,这3种植物在检测到的食物中的相对密度分别为34.34%、22.99%和10.61%,而白鹤的传统食物苦草冬芽所占的比例极低(2.05%)。由此可见,白鹤的食物组成已经发生变化,农作物已成为白鹤的重要食物来源。白鹤在农业用地中觅食使该物种的保护面临一系列问题,尤其是高强度的人为干扰,对此,提出了相应的保护措施,希望为白鹤提供安全、稳定的觅食环境。