Project description:Exposure to high-dose radiation causes life-threatening serious intestinal damage. Histological analysis is the most accurate method for judging the extent of intestinal damage after death. However, it is difficult to predict the extent of intestinal damage to body samples. Here we focused on extracellular microRNAs (miRNAs) released from cells and investigated miRNA species that increased or decreased in serum and feces using a radiation-induced intestinal injury mouse model. A peak of small RNA of 25–200 nucleotides was detected in mouse serum and feces 72 h after radiation exposure, and miRNA presence in serum and feces was inferred. MiRNAs expressed in the small intestine and were increased by more than 2.0-fold in serum or feces following a 10 Gy radiation exposure were detected by microarray analysis and were 4 in serum and 19 in feces. In this study, miR-375-3p, detected in serum and feces, was identified as the strongest candidate for a high-dose radiation biomarker in serum and/or feces using a radiation-induced intestinal injury model.
Project description:Sixty crossbred piglets (Duroc*Landrace*Yorkshire) weaned at the age of 21 days were maintained for one week and had free access to feed and water. During this week, all the piglets were scored for the severity of diarrhea. Diarrhea index was scored as follows: 1= hard feces; 2= no scours, feces of normal consistency; 3= mild scours, soft, partially formed feces; 4= moderate scours, loose, semi-liquid feces; 5= watery feces; as previously did Those piglets with a score of 4 or 5 for three continuous days were designated as diarrhea piglets, while those piglets with a score of 1 or 2 for three continuous days were designated as normal piglets..
Project description:Gut microbiota comparation of Young mice (n=10), Old mice, Young_yFMT (Young mice 14 days after transplant feces from young mice, n=10) and Young_oFMT (Young mice 14 days after transplant feces from old mice, n=10), Antibiotic group (Cefazolin, n=8).
Project description:Mammalian feces can be collected non-invasively during field research and provides valuable information on the ecology and evolution of the host individuals. Undigested food objects, genome/metagenome, steroid hormones, and stable isotopes obtained from fecal samples provide evidence on diet, host/symbiont genetics, and physiological status of the individuals. However, proteins in mammalian feces have hardly been studied, which hampers the molecular investigations into the behavior and physiology of the host individuals. Here, we apply mass spectrometry-based proteomics to fecal samples (n = 10) that were collected from infant, juvenile, and adult captive Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) to describe the proteomes of the host, food, and intestinal microbes. The results show that fecal proteomics is a useful method to investigate dietary changes along with breastfeeding and weaning, to reveal the organ/tissue and taxonomy of dietary items, and to estimate physiological status inside intestinal tracts. These types of insights are difficult or impossible to obtain through other molecular approaches. Most mammalian species are facing extinction risk and there is an urgent need to obtain knowledge on their ecology and evolution for better conservation strategy. The fecal proteomics framework we present here is easily applicable to wild settings and other mammalian species, and provides direct evidence of their behavior and physiology.
Project description:To further identify the fecal miRNAs generated in HE, we conducted an miRNA microarray analysis on feces collected from patients with HE and CHB. The microarray analysis of miRNA expression profiles revealed that the abundance of 10 miRNAs was significantly increased in feces from patients with HE, as compared with that from patients with CHB, whereas the abundance of 8 miRNAs was decreased.
Project description:Negative experiences in early life can induce long-lasting effects on the welfare, health, and performance of farm animals. A delayed placement of chicks in breeding houses has negative effects on their performance, and results in fecal-specific odours detectable by rats. Based on this observation, the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and metabolites from the feces of 12-day-old chickens were screened for early markers of response to stressful events using gas-chromatography and liquid-chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS, LC-HRMS). The low reproducibility of solid-phase micro-extraction of the VOCs followed by GC-MS was not suitable for marker discovery, in contrast to liquid extraction of metabolites from freeze-dried feces followed by GC-MS or LC-HRMS analysis. Therefore, the fecal metabolome from 12-day-old chicks having experienced a normal or delayed placement were recorded by GC-MS and LC-HRMS in two genotypes from two experiments. From both experiments, 25 and 35 metabolites, respectively explaining 81% and 45% of the difference between delayed and control chickens, were identified by orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis from LC-HRMS and GC-MS profiling. The sets of molecules identified will be useful to better understand the chicks’ response to stressful events over time and will contribute to define stress or welfare biomarkers. [Only the data from the GC-MS and LC-HRMS fecal metabolomes are deposed on Metabolights] This study was supported financially by a “crédits incitatifs” grant from the department of Animal Physiology and Livestock Systems (PHASE) at INRA and by a grant from the Integrated Management of Animal Health metaprogram of INRA for the “GISA-WHELP” project (www.gisa.inra.fr/en).