Dataset Information

Morphological and molecular phylogenetical identification of Tricodectes pinguis from Japanese black bears (Ursus thibetanus japonicus) in Aomori Prefecture, Japan.

ABSTRACT: Trichodectes pinguis, referred to commonly as the bear-biting louse, has been reported in several bear species. However, graphical (blurred or coarse) and genetic information on the louse is limited. In this study, we identified T. pinguis collected from Japanese black bears in the Aomori Prefecture, Japan. We confirmed 12S rDNA sequences derived from the collected T. pinguis and performed molecular phylogenetic analysis based on 12S rDNA. The analysis revealed the parasitic louse to be T. pinguis. Interestingly, the body size of T. pinguis found in this study was smaller than the previous recorded body size of them in Japan and Turkey. To better understand the biting louse infesting bears, morphometric and genetic information from other bear hosts needs to be accumulated.

SUBMITTER: Kusakisako K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9353088 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Morphological and molecular phylogenetical identification of Tricodectes pinguis from Japanese black bears (Ursus thibetanus japonicus) in Aomori Prefecture, Japan.

Kusakisako Kodai K Niiyama Hikaru H Asano Erika E Haraguchi Asako A Hakozaki Jun J Nakayama Kazuhiko K Nakamura Sakure S Shindo Junji J Kudo Noboru N Ikadai Hiromi H

The Journal of veterinary medical science 20220530 7

Trichodectes pinguis, referred to commonly as the bear-biting louse, has been reported in several bear species. However, graphical (blurred or coarse) and genetic information on the louse is limited. In this study, we identified T. pinguis collected from Japanese black bears in the Aomori Prefecture, Japan. We confirmed 12S rDNA sequences derived from the collected T. pinguis and performed molecular phylogenetic analysis based on 12S rDNA. The analysis revealed the parasitic louse to be T. pingu ...[more]

PMID: 35644573

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Project description:BackgroundAcross China and Southeast Asia, an estimated 17,000 bears are currently farmed for bile, primarily for traditional medicines. Depending on country, bile is extracted daily via transabdominal gallbladder fistulas, indwelling catheters, or needle aspiration. Despite claims that bears do not develop adverse effects from bile extraction, health issues identified in bears removed from bile farms include bile-extraction site infections, abdominal hernias, peritonitis, cholecystitis, hepatic neoplasia, cardiac disease, skeletal abnormalities, and abnormal behaviors. We present a comprehensive assessment of the effects of bile farming by comparing serum biochemical and hematological values of bears from farms that were bile-extracted (BE) and bears from farms not bile-extracted (FNE) with bears from non-farm captive (ZOO) and free-range (FR) environments. We hypothesized BE bears would have significant laboratory abnormalities compared to all non-extracted bear groups. We also hypothesized BE bears would have reduced long-term survival compared to FNE bears despite removal from farms.ResultsBE bears exhibited the highest values and greatest variation (on a population level) in laboratory parameters compared to all non-extracted bear groups particularly for alanine transaminase, gamma glutamyltransferase (GGT), total bilirubin (TBIL), alkaline phosphatase (ALKP), blood urea nitrogen, creatinine (CREA), and total white blood cell count. Significant differences were detected between bear groups when accounting for season, sex, and/or age. BE bears exhibited greater mean serum GGT compared to all non-extracted bear groups, and the odds of having elevated TBIL were 7.3 times greater for BE bears, consistent with hepatobiliary disease. Biochemical parameter elevations in BE bears persisted up to 14 years post-rescue, consistent with long-term effects of bile-extraction. BE bears that arrived with elevated CREA and ALKP had median survival times of 1 and 4 years respectively, and regardless of laboratory abnormalities, BE bears had significantly shorter survival times compared to FNE bears.ConclusionsOur results provide strong evidence that bile extraction practices not only represent a temporary constraint for bears' welfare, but confer distinct long-term adverse health consequences. Routine laboratory panels may be insensitive to detect the extent of underlying illness in BE bears as these bears have significantly reduced survival regardless of biochemical assessment compared to FNE bears.

Project description:BackgroundThe major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes are one of the most important genetic systems in the vertebrate immune response. The diversity of MHC genes may directly influence the survival of individuals against infectious disease. However, there has been no investigation of MHC diversity in the Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus). Here, we analyzed 270-bp nucleotide sequences of the entire exon 2 region of the MHC DQB gene by using 188 samples from the Japanese black bear (Ursus thibetanus japonicus) from 12 local populations.ResultsAmong 185 of 188 samples, we identified 44 MHC variants that encoded 31 different amino acid sequences (allotypes) and one putative pseudogene. The phylogenetic analysis suggests that MHC variants detected from the Japanese black bear are derived from the DQB locus. One of the 31 DQB allotypes, Urth-DQB*01, was found to be common to all local populations. Moreover, this allotype was shared between the black bear on the Asian continent and the Japanese black bear, suggesting that Urth-DQB*01 might have been maintained in the ancestral black bear population for at least 300,000 years. Our findings, from calculating the ratio of non-synonymous to synonymous substitutions, indicate that balancing selection has maintained genetic variation of peptide-binding residues at the DQB locus of the Japanese black bear. From examination of genotype frequencies among local populations, we observed a considerably lower level of observed heterozygosity than expected.ConclusionsThe low level of observed heterozygosity suggests that genetic drift reduced DQB diversity in the Japanese black bear due to a bottleneck event at the population or species level. The decline of DQB diversity might have been accelerated by the loss of rare variants that have been maintained by negative frequency-dependent selection. Nevertheless, DQB diversity of the black bear appears to be relatively high compared with some other endangered mammalian species. This result suggests that the Japanese black bears may also retain more potential resistance against pathogens than other endangered mammalian species. To prevent further decline of potential resistance against pathogens, a conservation policy for the Japanese black bear should be designed to maintain MHC rare variants in each local population.

Project description:Across Southeast Asia and China, more than 17000 Asian bears are kept under suboptimal conditions and farmed for their bile to meet the consumer demand for traditional medicine products. Years of unsterile and repetitive bile extraction contribute to the development of chronic sterile or bacterial cholecystitis, a pathology commonly diagnosed in formerly bile-farmed bears. In both human and veterinary medicine, the diagnostic value of the macroscopic bile examination for assessing gallbladder disease is unclear. The objective of this study is to identify the role of gallbladder bile color, viscosity, and turbidity, while comparing them with established markers of cholecystitis. Moreover, it aims to define the optimal duration of oral antibiotic treatment for chronic bacterial cholecystitis in bears associated with bile farming. Thirty-nine adult, formerly bile-farmed Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) were examined under anesthesia and underwent percutaneous ultrasound guided cholecystocentesis. A total of 59 bile samples were collected with 20 animals sampled twice to evaluate the therapeutic success. All bile aspirates were assessed macroscopically and microscopically followed by submission for bacterial culture and antimicrobial sensitivity. In the majority of bears, samples with cytological evidence of bactibilia lacked inflammatory cells and did not always correlate with positive bacterial cultures. The most common bacterial isolates were Enterococcus spp, Streptococcus spp and Escherichia coli. Based on our findings, the optimal duration of antibiotic treatment for chronic bacterial cholecystitis is 30 days. Moreover, unlike Gamma-glutamyl Transferase (GGT) and gallbladder wall thickness, the organoleptic properties of bile were found to be reliable markers of chronic gallbladder inflammation with color and turbidity indicating cholestasis. The current study highlights the importance of cholecystocentesis for the management of gallbladder disease and provides initial results on the possible diagnostic value of macroscopic bile examination.

Dataset Information

Morphological and molecular phylogenetical identification of Tricodectes pinguis from Japanese black bears (Ursus thibetanus japonicus) in Aomori Prefecture, Japan.

Publications

Morphological and molecular phylogenetical identification of Tricodectes pinguis from Japanese black bears (Ursus thibetanus japonicus) in Aomori Prefecture, Japan.

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