Browsing by Subject "Feces"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    A coprological survey of parasites of wild mantled howling monkeys, Alouatta palliata palliata.
    (J Wildl Dis, 1990-10) Stuart, MD; Greenspan, LL; Glander, KE; Clarke, MR
    Fecal samples from 155 mantled howling monkeys (Alouatta palliata palliata) examined at Centro Ecologico La Pacifica, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica, revealed 75 (48%) had parasitic infections. A sampling of nine howling monkeys from Santa Rosa National Park. Costa Rica indicated only one infected animal (11%). Only three of 19 (16%) spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) also from Santa Rosa were infected. Controrchis biliophilus, Trypanoxyuris minutus, unidentified strongylid eggs and Isospora sp. oocysts were found. Three monkeys from La Pacifica died and were examined for adult helminths. They were infected with Ascaris lumbricoides, C. biliophilus and T. minutus.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Adjuvant Injections Altered the Ileal and Fecal Microbiota Differently with Changes in Immunoglobulin Isotypes and Antimycobacterial Antibody Responses.
    (International journal of molecular sciences, 2023-02) Khadka, Sundar; Omura, Seiichi; Sato, Fumitaka; Tsunoda, Ikuo
    Alterations in the gut microbiota, "dysbiosis," have been reported in autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS), and their animal models. Although the animal models were induced by injections of autoantigens with adjuvants, including complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) and pertussis toxin (PT), the effects of adjuvant injections on the microbiota are largely unknown. We aimed to clarify whether adjuvant injections could affect the microbiota in the ileum and feces. Using 16S rRNA sequencing, we found decreased alpha diversities of the gut microbiota in mice injected with CFA and PT, compared with naïve mice. Overall, microbial profiles visualized by principal component analysis demonstrated dysbiosis in feces, but not in the ileum, of adjuvant-injected mice, where the genera Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 group and Alistipes contributed to dysbiosis. When we compared the relative abundances of individual bacteria, we found changes in 16 bacterial genera in feces and seven genera in the ileum of adjuvant-injected mice, in which increased serum levels of antibody against mycobacteria (a component of CFA) and total IgG2c were correlated with the genus Facklamia. On the other hand, increased IgG1 and IgA concentrations were correlated with the genus Atopostipes. Therefore, adjuvant injections alone could alter the overall microbial profiles (i.e., microbiota) and individual bacterial abundances with altered antibody responses; dysbiosis in animal models could be partly due to adjuvant injections.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Developing Methods for Access to High Quality Genome Sequences from Wild Ape Populations
    (2014-05-07) Koundakjian, Dylan
    Modern evolutionary study of wild ape populations requires the collection of genomic DNA from individuals living in their natural habitat. In order to be maximally useful, these samples must be robust enough for the amplification and subsequent assembly of genomic sequences, which are driving much of modern evolutionary research. Additionally, conservation efforts require that these samples be collected with zero intervention on the study species, because all great apes are now critically endangered. Consequently, the conventional method for genomic DNA collection has been extraction from cells present in fecal samples. However, this approach presents multiple difficulties to investigators, including extensive contamination of sequences from gut microbiota and limited storage time. The purpose of this study is to explore alternative procedures of noninvasive DNA collection to overcome these challenges. Specifically, the study looks at DNA extraction from hair follicle cells and from cells present in urine. These sources of genomic information confer a number of advantages over feces, such as smaller volumes of collection, much lower levels of microbial contamination, and relative ease of storage and transport. In this study, a method for isolating genomic DNA from chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) hair follicle cells is developed and tested for limit of detection using a decreasing number of hairs per extraction. Validation of the method is then established through the determination of the frequency of polymorphisms due genomic amplification error by comparing sequences obtained from three identically handled samples. After laying out the next steps of development for this method, the study also suggests a similar investigation for samples derived from urine. The overall aim of these studies is a future incorporation of these procedures into the suite of DNA collection techniques available to researchers working with natural populations of great apes and other mammals.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Impact of simian immunodeficiency virus infection on chimpanzee population dynamics.
    (PLoS Pathog, 2010-09-23) Rudicell, RS; Jones, JH; Wroblewski, EE; Learn, GH; Li, Y; Robertson, JD; Greengrass, E; Grossmann, F; Kamenya, S; Pintea, L; Mjungu, DC; Lonsdorf, EV; Mosser, A; Lehman, C; Collins, DA; Keele, BF; Goodall, J; Hahn, BH; Pusey, AE; Wilson, ML
    Like human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), simian immunodeficiency virus of chimpanzees (SIVcpz) can cause CD4+ T cell loss and premature death. Here, we used molecular surveillance tools and mathematical modeling to estimate the impact of SIVcpz infection on chimpanzee population dynamics. Habituated (Mitumba and Kasekela) and non-habituated (Kalande) chimpanzees were studied in Gombe National Park, Tanzania. Ape population sizes were determined from demographic records (Mitumba and Kasekela) or individual sightings and genotyping (Kalande), while SIVcpz prevalence rates were monitored using non-invasive methods. Between 2002-2009, the Mitumba and Kasekela communities experienced mean annual growth rates of 1.9% and 2.4%, respectively, while Kalande chimpanzees suffered a significant decline, with a mean growth rate of -6.5% to -7.4%, depending on population estimates. A rapid decline in Kalande was first noted in the 1990s and originally attributed to poaching and reduced food sources. However, between 2002-2009, we found a mean SIVcpz prevalence in Kalande of 46.1%, which was almost four times higher than the prevalence in Mitumba (12.7%) and Kasekela (12.1%). To explore whether SIVcpz contributed to the Kalande decline, we used empirically determined SIVcpz transmission probabilities as well as chimpanzee mortality, mating and migration data to model the effect of viral pathogenicity on chimpanzee population growth. Deterministic calculations indicated that a prevalence of greater than 3.4% would result in negative growth and eventual population extinction, even using conservative mortality estimates. However, stochastic models revealed that in representative populations, SIVcpz, and not its host species, frequently went extinct. High SIVcpz transmission probability and excess mortality reduced population persistence, while intercommunity migration often rescued infected communities, even when immigrating females had a chance of being SIVcpz infected. Together, these results suggest that the decline of the Kalande community was caused, at least in part, by high levels of SIVcpz infection. However, population extinction is not an inevitable consequence of SIVcpz infection, but depends on additional variables, such as migration, that promote survival. These findings are consistent with the uneven distribution of SIVcpz throughout central Africa and explain how chimpanzees in Gombe and elsewhere can be at equipoise with this pathogen.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Risk factors for and estimated incidence of community-associated Clostridium difficile infection, North Carolina, USA.
    (Emerg Infect Dis, 2010-02) Kutty, Preeta K; Woods, Christopher W; Sena, Arlene C; Benoit, Stephen R; Naggie, Susanna; Frederick, Joyce; Evans, Sharon; Engel, Jeffery; McDonald, L Clifford
    We determined estimated incidence of and risk factors for community-associated Clostridium difficile infection (CA-CDI) among patients treated at 6 North Carolina hospitals. CA-CDI case-patients were defined as adults (>18 years of age) with a positive stool test result for C. difficile toxin and no hospitalization within the prior 8 weeks. CA-CDI incidence was 21 and 46 per 100,000 person-years in Veterans Affairs (VA) outpatients and Durham County populations, respectively. VA case-patients were more likely than controls to have received antimicrobial drugs (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 17.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 6.6-48] and to have had a recent outpatient visit (aOR 5.1, 95% CI 1.5-17.9). County case-patients were more likely than controls to have received antimicrobial drugs (aOR 9.1, 95% CI 2.9-28.9), to have gastroesophageal reflux disease (aOR 11.2, 95% CI 1.9-64.2), and to have cardiac failure (aOR 3.8, 95% CI 1.1-13.7). Risk factors for CA-CDI overlap with those for healthcare-associated infection.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Supercritical water oxidation of a model fecal sludge without the use of a co-fuel.
    (Chemosphere, 2015-12) Miller, A; Espanani, R; Junker, A; Hendry, D; Wilkinson, N; Bollinger, D; Abelleira-Pereira, JM; Deshusses, MA; Inniss, E; Jacoby, W
    A continuous supercritical water oxidation reactor was designed and constructed to investigate the conversion of a feces simulant without the use of a co-fuel. The maximum reactor temperature and waste conversion was determined as a function of stoichiometric excess of oxygen in order to determine factor levels for subsequent investigation. 48% oxygen excess showed the highest temperature with full conversion. Factorial analysis was then used to determine the effects of feed concentration, oxygen excess, inlet temperature, and operating pressure on the increase in the temperature of the reacting fluid as well as a newly defined non-dimensional number, NJa representing heat transfer efficiency. Operating pressure and stoichiometric excess oxygen were found to have the most significant impacts on NJa. Feed concentration had a significant impact on fluid temperature increase showing an average difference of 46.4°C between the factorial levels.