Gut microbiome composition is associated with cardiac disease in zoo-housed western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla).
FEMS Microbiol Lett
; 364(15)2017 08 15.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28859316
ABSTRACT
Cardiac disease is a leading cause of mortality in zoo-housed western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). The gut microbiome is associated with cardiac disease in humans and similarly the gut microbiome may be associated with cardiac diseases in close relatives of humans, such as gorillas. We assessed the relationship between cardiac disease and gut bacterial composition in eight zoo-housed male western lowland gorillas (N = 4 with and N = 4 without cardiac disease) utilizing 16S rRNA gene analysis on the Illumina MiSeq sequencing platform. We found bacterial composition differences between gorillas with and without cardiac disease. Bacterial operational taxonomic units from phyla Bacteroidetes, Spirochaetes, Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were significant indicators of cardiac disease. Our results suggest that further investigations between diet and cardiac disease could improve the management and health of zoo-housed populations of this endangered species.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Bacteria
/
Ape Diseases
/
Gastrointestinal Microbiome
/
Gorilla gorilla
/
Heart Diseases
/
Animals, Zoo
Type of study:
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
FEMS Microbiol Lett
Year:
2017
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States