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BMC Ecology and Evolution Jun 2024Crop raiding and livestock predation negatively impact the views of the local community towards wildlife conservation. Farmers across the African continent, especially...
Crop raiding and livestock predation negatively impact the views of the local community towards wildlife conservation. Farmers across the African continent, especially those in rural regions, incur financial losses as a result of crop raiding and livestock depredation. The sustainability of the forest relies heavily on comprehending the essential connection between a harmonious park-people relationship and the coexistence of humans and wildlife. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the predation of livestock, the raiding of crops, and the attitudes of the community towards wildlife in the Mankira Forest located in southwest Ethiopia. This particular area has been lacking in scientific research, making it crucial to conduct this assessment. The data were collected between November 2021 and September 2022 via a structured questionnaire. This study used a sample of 241 randomly selected respondents from the four villages, and responses were compared using chi-square tests. Pearson correlation was also used to test the relationship between the distance of farmland and the extent of crop raiding. The majority of the respondents (95%) reported the presence of crop raiding and livestock predation in the area. These losses were caused by the Papio anubis (39%), the Chlorocebus aethiops (24.1%), the Hystrix cristata (15.3%), the Canis aures (58.3%), and the Crocutacrocuta (29.5%). Maize stood out as the crop type most susceptible to crop raiders. Most of the respondents (56.7%) had a negative attitude towards wildlife conservation. There was a significant difference among age groups of respondents related to their attitude towards wildlife conservation (p < 0.05). The study highlights the need to address several gaps in understanding and managing human-wildlife conflict through research on predation, raiding, and community attitudes. Therefore, to fulfill the dual goals of community support and conservation of wildlife, rigorous management and planning are needed.
Topics: Ethiopia; Conservation of Natural Resources; Animals; Livestock; Humans; Attitude; Crops, Agricultural; Predatory Behavior; Forests; Animals, Wild; Male; Female; Adult; Middle Aged
PubMed: 38937724
DOI: 10.1186/s12862-024-02279-2 -
Immunity, Inflammation and Disease Jun 2024Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules expressed on B cells, monocytes and dendritic cells present processed peptides to CD4 T cells as one of the...
BACKGROUND
Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules expressed on B cells, monocytes and dendritic cells present processed peptides to CD4 T cells as one of the mechanisms to combat infection and inflammation.
AIM
To study MHC II expression in a variety of nonhuman primate species, including New World (NWM) squirrel monkeys (Saimiri boliviensis boliviensis), owl monkeys (Aotus nancymae), common marmosets (Callithrix spp.), and Old World (OWM) rhesus (Macaca mulatta), baboons (Papio anubis).
METHODS
Two clones of cross-reactive mouse anti-human HLADR monoclonal antibodies (mAb) binding were analyzed by flow cytometry to evaluate MHC II expression on NHP immune cells, including T lymphocytes in whole blood (WB) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC).
RESULTS
MHC class II antibody reactivity is seen with CD20 B cells, CD14 monocytes and CD3 T lymphocytes. Specific reactivity with both clones was demonstrated in T lymphocytes: this reactivity was not inhibited by purified CD16 antibody but was completely inhibited when pre-blocked with purified unconjugated MHC II antibody. Freshly prepared PBMC also showed reactivity with T lymphocytes without any stimulation. Interestingly, peripheral blood from rhesus macaques and olive baboons (OWM) showed no such T lymphocyte associated MHCII antibody reactivity.
DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION
Our results from antibody (MHC II) reactivity clearly show the potential existence of constitutively expressed (with no stimulation) MHC II molecules on T lymphocytes in new world monkeys. These results suggest that additional study is warranted to evaluate the functional and evolutionary significance of these finding and to better understand MHC II expression on T lymphocytes in new world monkeys.
Topics: Animals; Histocompatibility Antigens Class II; HLA-DR Antigens; T-Lymphocytes; Humans; Macaca mulatta; Antibodies, Monoclonal; B-Lymphocytes; Saimiri; Callithrix; Flow Cytometry; Papio anubis; Platyrrhini
PubMed: 38923761
DOI: 10.1002/iid3.1318 -
Xenotransplantation 2024Orthotopic cardiac xenotransplantation has seen notable improvement, leading to the first compassionate use in 2022. However, it remains challenging to define the...
Hemodynamics in pig-to-baboon heterotopic thoracic cardiac xenotransplantation: Recovery from perioperative cardiac xenograft dysfunction and impairment by cardiac overgrowth.
INTRODUCTION
Orthotopic cardiac xenotransplantation has seen notable improvement, leading to the first compassionate use in 2022. However, it remains challenging to define the clinical application of cardiac xenotransplantation, including the back-up strategy in case of xenograft failure. In this regard, the heterotopic thoracic technique could be an alternative to the orthotopic procedure. We present hemodynamic data of heterotopic thoracic pig-to-baboon transplantation experiments, focusing on perioperative xenograft dysfunction and xenograft overgrowth.
METHODS
We used 17 genetically modified piglets as donors for heterotopic thoracic xenogeneic cardiac transplantation into captive-bred baboons. In all animals, pressure probes were implanted in the graft's left ventricle and the recipient's ascending aorta and hemodynamic data (graft pressure, aortic pressure and recipient's heart rate) were recorded continuously.
RESULTS
Aortic pressures and heart rates of the recipients' hearts were postoperatively stable in all experiments. After reperfusion, three grafts presented with low left ventricular pressure indicating perioperative cardiac dysfunction (PCXD). These animals recovered from PCXD within 48 h under support of the recipient's heart and there was no difference in survival compared to the other 14 ones. After 48 h, graft pressure increased up to 200 mmHg in all 17 animals with two different time-patterns. This led to a progressive gradient between graft and aortic pressure. With increasing gradient, the grafts stopped contributing to cardiac output. Grafts showed a marked weight increase from implantation to explantation.
CONCLUSION
The heterotopic thoracic cardiac xenotransplantation technique is a possible method to overcome PCXD in early clinical trials and an experimental tool to get a better understanding of PCXD. The peculiar hemodynamic situation of increasing graft pressure but missing graft's output indicates outflow tract obstruction due to cardiac overgrowth. The heterotopic thoracic technique should be successful when using current strategies of immunosuppression, organ preservation and donor pigs with smaller body and organ size.
Topics: Animals; Transplantation, Heterologous; Heart Transplantation; Swine; Hemodynamics; Heterografts; Papio; Graft Survival; Transplantation, Heterotopic; Animals, Genetically Modified; Graft Rejection; Humans
PubMed: 38864375
DOI: 10.1111/xen.12841 -
Nature Communications Jun 2024The planum temporale (PT), a key language area, is specialized in the left hemisphere in prelinguistic infants and considered as a marker of the pre-wired language-ready...
The planum temporale (PT), a key language area, is specialized in the left hemisphere in prelinguistic infants and considered as a marker of the pre-wired language-ready brain. However, studies have reported a similar structural PT left-asymmetry not only in various adult non-human primates, but also in newborn baboons. Its shared functional links with language are not fully understood. Here we demonstrate using previously obtained MRI data that early detection of PT left-asymmetry among 27 newborn baboons (Papio anubis, age range of 4 days to 2 months) predicts the future development of right-hand preference for communicative gestures but not for non-communicative actions. Specifically, only newborns with a larger left-than-right PT were more likely to develop a right-handed communication once juvenile, a contralateral brain-gesture link which is maintained in a group of 70 mature baboons. This finding suggests that early PT asymmetry may be a common inherited prewiring of the primate brain for the ontogeny of ancient lateralised properties shared between monkey gesture and human language.
Topics: Animals; Functional Laterality; Gestures; Animals, Newborn; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Female; Male; Papio anubis; Temporal Lobe; Language
PubMed: 38839754
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47277-6 -
Xenotransplantation 2024Preoperative size matching is essential for both allogeneic and xenogeneic heart transplantation. In preclinical pig-to-baboon xenotransplantation experiments, porcine...
BACKGROUND
Preoperative size matching is essential for both allogeneic and xenogeneic heart transplantation. In preclinical pig-to-baboon xenotransplantation experiments, porcine donor organs are usually matched to recipients by using indirect parameters, such as age and total body weight. For clinical use of xenotransplantation, a more precise method of size measurement would be desirable to guarantee a "perfect match." Here, we investigated the use of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and described a new method to estimate organ size prior to xenotransplantation.
METHODS
Hearts from n = 17 genetically modified piglets were analyzed by TTE and total heart weight (THW) was measured prior to xenotransplantation into baboons between March 2018 and April 2022. Left ventricular (LV) mass was calculated according to the previously published method by Devereux et al. and a newly adapted formula. Hearts from n = 5 sibling piglets served as controls for the determination of relative LV and right ventricular (RV) mass. After explantation, THW and LV and RV mass were measured.
RESULTS
THW correlated significantly with donor age and total body weight. The strongest correlation was found between THW and LV mass calculated by TTE. Compared to necropsy data of the control piglets, the Devereux formula underestimated both absolute and relative LV mass, whereas the adapted formula yielded better results. Combining the adapted formula and the relative LV mass data, THW can be predicted with TTE.
CONCLUSIONS
We demonstrate reliable LV mass estimation by TTE for size matching prior to xenotransplantation. An adapted formula provides more accurate results of LV mass estimation than the generally used Devereux formula in the xenotransplantation setting. TTE measurement of LV mass is superior for the prediction of porcine heart sizes compared to conventional parameters such as age and total body weight.
Topics: Animals; Transplantation, Heterologous; Heart Transplantation; Echocardiography; Swine; Organ Size; Papio; Heterografts; Animals, Genetically Modified; Heart
PubMed: 38818852
DOI: 10.1111/xen.12861 -
Pediatric Transplantation Jun 2024Partial heart transplantation delivers growing heart valve implants by transplanting the part of the heart containing the necessary heart valve only. In contrast to... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Partial heart transplantation delivers growing heart valve implants by transplanting the part of the heart containing the necessary heart valve only. In contrast to heart transplantation, partial heart transplantation spares the native ventricles. This has important implications for partial heart transplant biology, including the allowable ischemia time, optimal graft preservation, primary graft dysfunction, immune rejection, and optimal immunosuppression.
AIMS
Exploration of partial heart transplant biology will depend on suitable animal models. Here we review our experience with partial heart transplantation in rodents, piglets, and non-human primates.
MATERIALS & METHODS
This review is based on our experience with partial heart transplantation using over 100 rodents, over 50 piglets and one baboon.
RESULTS
Suitable animal models for partial heart transplantation include rodent heterotopic partial heart transplantation, piglet orthotopic partial heart transplantation, and non-human primate partial heart xenotransplantation.
DISCUSSION
Rodent models are relatively cheap and offer extensive availability of research tools. However, rodent open-heart surgery is technically not feasible. This limits rodents to heterotopic partial heart transplant models. Piglets are comparable in size to children. This allows for open-heart surgery using clinical grade equipment for orthoptic partial heart transplantation. Piglets also grow rapidly, which is useful for studying partial heart transplant growth. Finally, nonhuman primates are immunologically most closely related to humans. Therefore, nonhuman primates are most suitable for studying partial heart transplant immunobiology and xenotransplantation.
CONCLUSIONS
Animal research is a privilege that is contingent on utilitarian ethics and the 3R principles of replacement, reduction and refinement. This privilege allows the research community to seek fundamental knowledge about partial heart transplantation, and to apply this knowledge to enhance the health of children who require partial heart transplants.
Topics: Heart Transplantation; Animals; Swine; Models, Animal; Transplantation, Heterologous; Papio; Humans; Graft Rejection; Transplantation, Heterotopic; Rats; Disease Models, Animal; Rodentia
PubMed: 38766977
DOI: 10.1111/petr.14788 -
American Journal of Veterinary Research May 2024Present an approach to the safe and efficient provision of anesthesia and birth control measures to a large group of primates.
OBJECTIVE
Present an approach to the safe and efficient provision of anesthesia and birth control measures to a large group of primates.
ANIMALS
98 hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas) held in a German zoological institution.
METHODS
A group of 12 veterinarians, 2 zookeepers, and 6 volunteers anesthetized all animals within 2 days. The baboons were orally premedicated with midazolam (0.1 to 0.5 mg/kg) and anesthetized with medetomidine (40 to 60 µg/kg, IM) and ketamine (2 to 4 mg/kg, IM); isoflurane at rates of 1.5% to 2% was used for maintaining anesthesia if necessary. All animals received a physical examination, prophylactic medication, and tuberculin testing. For population management, the animals received a contraceptive implant (adult females), orchiectomy (young males), or vasectomy (breeding males). Young males received intratesticular blocks with lidocaine. All animals received atipamezole (125 to 150 µg/kg) before recovery.
RESULTS
Premedication resulted in anxiolysis, which facilitated separating and darting. Median time from darting to access to the animal was 10 minutes. Mean anesthetic times were 25 minutes for females and 55 minutes for males. The depth of anesthesia was appropriate for the procedures. No fatalities were recorded. One animal was injured by other baboons but recovered after treatment.
CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Health management and birth control measures are necessary in baboon troops under human care. Anesthesia and/or contraception of individual animals often leads to intraspecific aggression. This case series describes how to provide anesthesia and contraception to an entire troop as an alternative approach that can be adopted to future similar interventions.
PubMed: 38744308
DOI: 10.2460/ajvr.23.12.0274 -
The Journal of Endocrinology Jul 2024We recently showed that the ratio of capillaries to myofibers in skeletal muscle, which accounts for 80% of insulin-directed glucose uptake and metabolism, was reduced...
We recently showed that the ratio of capillaries to myofibers in skeletal muscle, which accounts for 80% of insulin-directed glucose uptake and metabolism, was reduced in baboon fetuses in which estrogen was suppressed by maternal letrozole administration. Since vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) promotes angiogenesis, the present study determined the impact of estrogen deprivation on fetal skeletal muscle VEGF expression, capillary development, and long-term vascular and metabolic function in 4- to 8-year-old adult offspring. Maternal baboons were untreated or treated with letrozole or letrozole plus estradiol on days 100-164 of gestation (term = 184 days). Skeletal muscle VEGF protein expression was suppressed by 45% (P < 0.05) and correlated (P = 0.01) with a 47% reduction (P < 0.05) in the number of capillaries per myofiber area in fetuses of baboons in which serum estradiol levels were suppressed 95% (P < 0.01) by letrozole administration. The reduction in fetal skeletal muscle microvascularization was associated with a 52% decline (P = 0.02) in acetylcholine-induced brachial artery dilation and a 23% increase (P = 0.01) in mean arterial blood pressure in adult progeny of letrozole-treated baboons, which was restored to normal by letrozole plus estradiol. The present study indicates that estrogen upregulates skeletal muscle VEGF expression and systemic microvessel development within the fetus as an essential programming event critical for ontogenesis of systemic vascular function and insulin sensitivity/glucose homeostasis after birth in primate offspring.
Topics: Animals; Female; Letrozole; Muscle, Skeletal; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; Pregnancy; Nitriles; Estrogens; Estradiol; Triazoles; Neovascularization, Physiologic; Papio; Male; Fetus; Capillaries; Aromatase Inhibitors
PubMed: 38738915
DOI: 10.1530/JOE-23-0364 -
The Journal of Animal Ecology Apr 2024Biological market theory can be used to explain intraspecific cooperation, interspecific mutualism, and sexual selection through models of game theory. These models...
Biological market theory can be used to explain intraspecific cooperation, interspecific mutualism, and sexual selection through models of game theory. These models describe the interactions between organisms as two classes of traders (buyers/sellers) exchanging commodities in the form of goods (e.g. food, shelter, matings) and services (e.g. warning calls, protection). Here, we expand biological market theory to include auction theory where bidding serves to match buyers and sellers. In a reverse auction, the seller increases the value of the item or decreases the cost until a buyer steps forward. We provide several examples of ecological systems that may have reverse auctions as underlying mechanisms to form mutualistic relationships. We focus on the yellow baboon (Papio cynocephalus) mating system as a case study to propose how the mechanisms of a reverse auction, which have the unintended but emergent consequence of producing a mutually beneficial outcome that improves collective reproductive benefits of the troop in this multi-female multi-male polygynandrous social system. For the yellow baboon, we posit that the "seller" is the reproductively cycling female, and the "buyer" is a male looking to mate with a cycling female. To the male, the "item for the sale" is the opportunity to sire an offspring, the price is providing safety and foraging time (via consortship) to the female. The "increasing value of the item for sale" is the chance of conception, which increases with each cycle since a female has resumed cycling post-partum. The female's sexual swelling is an honest indicator of that cycle's probability of conception, and since resident males can track a female's cycle since resumption, there is transparency. The males presumably know the chance of conception when choosing to bid by offering consortship. Across nature, this reverse auction game likely exists in other inter- and intraspecific social relationships. Considering an ecological system as a reverse auction broadens our view of social evolution and adaptations through the lens of human economic structures.
PubMed: 38679917
DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.14085 -
PLoS Pathogens Apr 2024Human enteroviruses are the most common human pathogen with over 300 distinct genotypes. Previous work with poliovirus has suggested that it is possible to generate...
Human enteroviruses are the most common human pathogen with over 300 distinct genotypes. Previous work with poliovirus has suggested that it is possible to generate antibody responses in humans and animals that can recognize members of multiple enterovirus species. However, cross protective immunity across multiple enteroviruses is not observed epidemiologically in humans. Here we investigated whether immunization of mice or baboons with inactivated poliovirus or enterovirus virus-like-particles (VLPs) vaccines generates antibody responses that can recognize enterovirus D68 or A71. We found that mice only generated antibodies specific for the antigen they were immunized with, and repeated immunization failed to generate cross-reactive antibody responses as measured by both ELISA and neutralization assay. Immunization of baboons with IPV failed to generate neutralizing antibody responses against enterovirus D68 or A71. These results suggest that a multivalent approach to enterovirus vaccination is necessary to protect against enterovirus disease in vulnerable populations.
Topics: Animals; Mice; Cross Reactions; Antibodies, Viral; Enterovirus Infections; Poliovirus Vaccine, Inactivated; Vaccines, Virus-Like Particle; Antibodies, Neutralizing; Papio; Humans; Poliovirus; Female; Antibody Formation; Enterovirus; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Enterovirus D, Human
PubMed: 38662650
DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1012159