Evaluating toxicity impacts of environmental exposed chromium on small Indian mongoose (Urva auropunctatus) hematological, biochemical and histopathological functioning.

Sub-lethal toxic impacts of chromium on hematological, biochemical and histological parameters were analyzed in the female small Indian mongoose (Urva auropuctatus) residing contaminated environment of tannery industry. Chromium bioaccumulation in the blood, liver and kidney tissue of the exposed mongooses was found elevated compared to the control mongooses' tissues. Total body weight (75.7%), liver weight (83.6%) as well as HSI (68.1%), RSI (86.2%) and the platelets counts (59.7%) were found significantly elevated, with significantly reduced RBCs (59.6%), and WBCs (64%). LFT and RFT were also found abnormal, moreover, the histopathological injuries had been distinct inside the kidney (>75%) and hepatic (>75%) tissues of exposed animals. Shrinkage and vacuolization (>75%) inside the hepatocyte expanded sinusoidal spaces and nuclear pyknosis (>75%) was evident within the hepatic tissue. Hypertrophy of epithelial cells of renal tubules and inter-renal cells of the head kidney with a reduction in tubular lumens (>75%) and vacuolization of tubules were witnessed within the kidney section. Atrophy inside the kidney inter-renal cells, glomeruli compression within the Bowman's capsules (>75%) following the necrosis in hematopoietic tissues were found in exposed animals. The present findings indicate that chronic exposure to chromium induces severe anemia, decreased serum protein concentration, hepatic and renal tissue histopathology, impairing the vital capabilities of liver, metabolic regulation, excretion, and stress homeostasis maintenance of which within the long-run may posture a severe risk to animal well-being then distress their inhabitants.

Environmental chromium from the tannery industry induces altered reproductive endpoints in the wild female small Indian mongoose ( Urva auropunctatus).

The populations of wild animals are declining in many parts of the world in response to man-made alterations in the environment. Environmental contamination due to heavy metals discharge from industry may contribute to the decline of wild animal populations by impacting their reproduction, growth, and development. In the leather tanning industry, chromium (Cr) is used as a basic component, but it is a potent toxicant that can affect many of the physiological functions of animals. In the current study, we investigated the reproductive toxicity of industrial Cr in female small Indian mongooses inhabiting a tannery area. Adult female specimens were live trapped from February 2015 to January 2016. Blood and other body tissues (ovaries, kidneys and liver) of the captured specimens were collected along with soil and water samples from the environment for analysis. The Cr concentrations were found significantly ( p < 0.0001) increased compared to control in the environment, blood, and all body tissues of the animals. Estradiol and progesterone levels were found to be significantly decreased in comparison with control ( p < 0.0001), along with reduced ovarian weights, while follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone levels were found significantly ( p < 0.0001) elevated. Light microscopy revealed significantly decreased in comparison with control ovarian follicle numbers ( p < 0.0001) and diameters, vacuolization of the oocytes, and a significantly higher percentage of atretic follicles inside the ovary. We conclude that Cr discharged from the tanneries is absorbed by the exposed female small Indian mongoose, leading to ovarian dysfunction with potential impairment of reproductive function.

Exceptional endocrine profiles characterise the meerkat: sex, status, and reproductive patterns.

In vertebrates, reproductive endocrine concentrations are strongly differentiated by sex, with androgen biases typifying males and estrogen biases typifying females. These sex differences can be reduced in female-dominant species; however, even the most masculinised of females have less testosterone (T) than do conspecific males. To test if aggressively dominant, female meerkats (Suricata suricatta) may be hormonally masculinised, we measured serum androstenedione (A4), T and estradiol (E2) in both sexes and social classes, during both 'baseline' and reproductive events. Relative to resident males, dominant females had greater A4, equivalent T and greater E2 concentrations. Males, whose endocrine values did not vary by social status, experienced increased T during reproductive forays, linking T to sexual behaviour, but not social status. Moreover, substantial E2 concentrations in male meerkats may facilitate their role as helpers. In females, dominance status and pregnancy magnified the unusual concentrations of measured sex steroids. Lastly, faecal androgen metabolites replicated the findings derived from serum, highlighting the female bias in total androgens. Female meerkats are thus strongly hormonally masculinised, possibly via A4's bioavailability for conversion to T. These raised androgen concentrations may explain female aggressiveness in this species and give dominant breeders a heritable mechanism for their daughters' competitive edge.

Preclinical Mouse Models for Analysis of the Therapeutic Potential of Engineered Oncolytic Herpes Viruses.

After more than two decades of research and development, oncolytic herpes viruses (oHSVs) are moving into the spotlight due to recent encouraging clinical trial data. oHSV and other oncolytic viruses function through direct oncolytic cancer cell-killing mechanisms and by stimulating antitumor immunity. As further viruses are developed and optimized for the treatment of various types of cancer, appropriate predictive preclinical models will be of great utility. This review will discuss existing data in this area, focusing on the mouse tumor models that are commonly used.

Policing of reproduction by hidden threats in a cooperative mammal.

The evolution of cooperation in animal and human societies is associated with mechanisms to suppress individual selfishness. In insect societies, queens and workers enforce cooperation by "policing" selfish reproduction by workers. Insect policing typically takes the form of damage limitation after individuals have carried out selfish acts (such as laying eggs). In contrast, human policing is based on the use of threats that deter individuals from acting selfishly in the first place, minimizing the need for damage limitation. Policing by threat could in principle be used to enforce reproductive suppression in animal societies, but testing this idea requires an experimental approach to simulate reproductive transgression and provoke out-of-equilibrium behavior. We carried out an experiment of this kind on a wild population of cooperatively breeding banded mongooses (Mungos mungo) in Uganda. In this species, each group contains multiple female breeders that give birth to a communal litter, usually on the same day. In a 7-y experiment we used contraceptive injections to manipulate the distribution of maternity within groups, triggering hidden threats of infanticide. Our data suggest that older, socially dominant females use the threat of infanticide to deter selfish reproduction by younger females, but that females can escape the threat of infanticide by synchronizing birth to the same day as older females. Our study shows that reproduction in animal societies can be profoundly influenced by threats that remain hidden until they are triggered experimentally. Coercion may thus extend well beyond the systems in which acts of infanticide are common.

The causes of physiological suppression among female meerkats: a role for subordinate restraint due to the threat of infanticide?

In many animal societies, subordinates exhibit down-regulated reproductive endocrine axes relative to those of dominants, but whether this 'physiological suppression' arises from active interference by dominants or subordinate self-restraint is a matter of debate. Here we investigate the roles that these processes play in precipitating physiological suppression among subordinate female meerkats, Suricata suricatta. We show that, while subordinate females are known to suffer stress-related physiological suppression during periodic temporary evictions by the dominant female, their low estrogen levels while within their groups cannot be readily attributed to chronic stress, as their fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels during this time are comparable to those of dominants. The low estrogen levels of subordinate females also cannot be explained simply by self-restraint due to factors that could reduce their payoff from maintaining their fertility regardless of the presence of the dominant female (young age, a lack of unrelated mates, poor body condition and limited breeding experience), as substantial rank-related differences in fecal total-estrogen metabolite levels remain when such factors are controlled. We suggest that this residual difference in estrogen levels may reflect a degree of subordinate restraint due in part to the dominant female's ability to kill their young. Accordingly, subordinate female estrogen levels vary in association with temporal variation in the likelihood of infanticide by the dominant. Attempts to identify the causes of physiological suppression should be cautious if rejecting any role for dominant interference in favor of subordinate restraint, as the dominant's capacity to interfere may often be the reason why subordinates exercise restraint.

Molecular systematics and origin of sociality in mongooses (Herpestidae, Carnivora).

The Herpestidae are small terrestrial carnivores comprising 18 African and Asian genera, currently split into two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Galidiinae. The aim of this work was to resolve intra-familial relationships and to test the origin of sociality in the group. For this purpose we analysed sequences of the complete cytochrome b gene for 18 species of Herpestidae. The results showed that the mongooses were split into three clades: (1) the Malagasy taxa (Galidiinae and Cryptoprocta), (2) the true social mongooses and (3) the solitary mongooses, each group being also supported by morphological and chromosomal data. Our results suggested unexpected phylogenetic relationships: (1) the genus Cynictis is included in the solitary mongoose clade, (2) the genera Liberiictis and Mungos are sister-group, and (3) the genus Herpestes is polyphyletic. We examined the evolution of the sociality in mongooses by combining behavioural traits with the cytochrome b data. Some of the behavioural traits provided good synapomorphies for characterizing the social species clade, showing the potential benefit of using such characters in phylogeny. The mapping of ecological and behavioural features resulted in hypothesizing solitary behavior and life in forest as the conditions at the base of the mongoose clade.

Spontaneous lactation is an adaptive result of pseudopregnancy.

Lactation is almost exclusively associated with pregnancy and giving birth. Although lactation can be induced without a preceding pregnancy in some species, this requires exogenous hormones, artificially intense or extended suckling or both. Spontaneous lactation, lactation by females that have neither been pregnant nor experimentally manipulated, is extremely unusual among eutherians. Among nondomesticated animals, spontaneous lactation has been observed repeatedly only in the dwarf mongoose Helogale parvula. We report here spontaneous lactation by free-living dwarf mongooses using data on urinary oestrogen conjugate concentrations (n = 560, 65 females) and body weight (n = 3,096, 25 females) from a population in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. We use demographic data from this population to demonstrate that spontaneous lactation, and thus the endocrine phenomena that induce it, increase the evolutionary fitness of lactating females.

Effect of thiourea on calcitonin cells of the Indian grey mongoose Herpestes edwardsi (Geoffroy).

The thiourea treated mongooses display an increase in the number and size of the calcitonin cells. These cells sometimes are seen accompanied with desquamated epithelial cells within the colloid. The thyroid follicular cells also record an increase in their height.