IRISanRaf

Supplementation With Human Foods Affects the Gut Microbiota of Wild Howler Monkeys

Wild primates face a wide range of anthropogenic influences globally that impact their health, fitness, and survival. One area of potential impact that has been particularly understudied is the supplementation of wild primate diets with human foods. Although the consumption of human foods represents a substantial dietary change for wild primates, knowledge of how it impacts their physiology and behavior is limited. Here we explore how human food supplementation impacts wild primates by compar...

Exploring the Utility of the Gut Microbiome as a Longitudinal Health Monitoring Tool in Sanctuary Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

The primary goal of captive primate management is to ensure optimal health and welfare of the animals in our care. Given that the gut microbiome interacts closely with host metabolism, immunity, and even cognition, it represents a potentially powerful tool for identifying subtle changes in health status across a range of body systems simultaneously. However, thus far, it has not been widely tested or implemented as a monitoring tool. In this study, we used longitudinal microbiome sampling of ...

Gut microbial composition and diversity varies by CREBRF genotype among Samoan infants

Over 40% of Samoans have at least one copy of the minor A allele at rs373863828 in encoding CREB3 regulatory factor (CREBRF), which is associated with increased body mass index (BMI) but decreased odds of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The mechanisms underlying this paradoxical effect remain unknown. We hypothesized that gut microbiota may play a role and examined associations between CREBRF genotype and gut microbial diversity and composition among Samoan infants. Fecal samples were collected fro...

Vitamin D and Cardiovascular Disease: The “Good”, the “Bad”, and the “Unknown”