title: The effect of low- and high-fiber diets on the population of entodiniomorphid ciliates Troglodytella abrassarti in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).
abstract: Troglodytella abrassarti is an intestinal entodiniomorphid ciliate commonly diagnosed in the feces of wild and captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Entodiniomorphids could be considered to have a mutualistic relationship with the great apes, in that the ciliates benefit from the intestinal ecosystem of the host, while also contributing to the fiber fermentation process. We examined the effect of diet on the infection intensities of T. abrassarti in two captive chimpanzees in the Liberec Zoo, Czech Republic. The chimpanzees were fed a low-fiber diet (LFD) with 14% neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and a high-fiber diet (HFD; 26% NDF) for 10 days with one transition, and two 10-day adaptation periods. Fecal samples were examined coproscopically with the merthiolate-iodine-formaldehyde concentration (MIFC) technique, in order to quantify the number of ciliates per gram of feces. A significant trend of increasing T. abrassarti numbers was observed when the animals were fed the LFD, compared to when they were fed the HFD. Our results suggest, however, that infection intensities of T. abrassarti in captive chimpanzees are not influenced primarily by the amount of fiber in the diet, but rather by the dietary starch concentration (HFD: 1%; LFD: 8%).
authors.affiliation: Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno, Czech Republic. petrzelkova@ivb.cz
authors.forename: Klára J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Petrželková
authors.forename: Kateřina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schovancová
authors.forename: Ilona
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Profousová
authors.forename: Svetlana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kišidayová
authors.forename: Zora
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Váradyová
authors.forename: Stano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pekár
authors.forename: Jiří
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kamler
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Modrý
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000836:Animals, Zoo; D016770:Ciliophora Infections / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D018153:Czech Republic; D004032:Diet / Q000662:veterinary*; D004043:Dietary Fiber / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D008297:Male; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000469:parasitology*; D013213:Starch; D016801:Trichostomatina / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D004043:Dietary Fiber; D013213:Starch