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Radiographic analysis of the thickness of the cranial bones in captive compared to wild-living cheetahs and in cheetahs with hypovitaminosis A

Captive cheetahs often demonstrate a high incidence of diseases in which vitamin A imbalances are implicated. These can occur even under controlled and optimised feeding regimens, which is why surveillance of vitamin A status is mandatory in the successful health management of cheetahs. Serum levels...

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Autores principales: Schmidt, Martin J., Steenkamp, Gerhard, Caldwell, Peter, Failing, Klaus, Kirberger, Robert M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8354437/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34375363
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255924
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author Schmidt, Martin J.
Steenkamp, Gerhard
Caldwell, Peter
Failing, Klaus
Kirberger, Robert M.
author_facet Schmidt, Martin J.
Steenkamp, Gerhard
Caldwell, Peter
Failing, Klaus
Kirberger, Robert M.
author_sort Schmidt, Martin J.
collection PubMed
description Captive cheetahs often demonstrate a high incidence of diseases in which vitamin A imbalances are implicated. These can occur even under controlled and optimised feeding regimens, which is why surveillance of vitamin A status is mandatory in the successful health management of cheetahs. Serum levels of the vitamin do not reflect the true vitamin A status and liver tissue analysis is rather impractical for routine application in large felids. A biomarker for evaluating overt and subclinical vitamin A deficiency in cheetahs is needed. This study evaluates whether increased calvarial bone thickness can be detected on routine skull radiographs of vitamin A deficient cheetahs compared to unaffected animals, and secondly, evaluates whether there is increased bone thickness in clinically sound captive cheetahs in general compared to wild-living controls. Bone thickness in the neuro- and splanchnocranium was measured in 138 skull radiographs. Significant thickening of the parietal bones was found in latero-lateral radiographs of immature cheetahs (< 12 months) with vitamin A deficiency. This finding may allow a presumptive diagnosis of hypovitaminosis A in immature cheetahs. A general difference in skull thickness between free-living and captive cheetahs was not found.
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spelling pubmed-83544372021-08-11 Radiographic analysis of the thickness of the cranial bones in captive compared to wild-living cheetahs and in cheetahs with hypovitaminosis A Schmidt, Martin J. Steenkamp, Gerhard Caldwell, Peter Failing, Klaus Kirberger, Robert M. PLoS One Research Article Captive cheetahs often demonstrate a high incidence of diseases in which vitamin A imbalances are implicated. These can occur even under controlled and optimised feeding regimens, which is why surveillance of vitamin A status is mandatory in the successful health management of cheetahs. Serum levels of the vitamin do not reflect the true vitamin A status and liver tissue analysis is rather impractical for routine application in large felids. A biomarker for evaluating overt and subclinical vitamin A deficiency in cheetahs is needed. This study evaluates whether increased calvarial bone thickness can be detected on routine skull radiographs of vitamin A deficient cheetahs compared to unaffected animals, and secondly, evaluates whether there is increased bone thickness in clinically sound captive cheetahs in general compared to wild-living controls. Bone thickness in the neuro- and splanchnocranium was measured in 138 skull radiographs. Significant thickening of the parietal bones was found in latero-lateral radiographs of immature cheetahs (< 12 months) with vitamin A deficiency. This finding may allow a presumptive diagnosis of hypovitaminosis A in immature cheetahs. A general difference in skull thickness between free-living and captive cheetahs was not found. Public Library of Science 2021-08-10 /pmc/articles/PMC8354437/ /pubmed/34375363 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255924 Text en © 2021 Schmidt et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Schmidt, Martin J.
Steenkamp, Gerhard
Caldwell, Peter
Failing, Klaus
Kirberger, Robert M.
Radiographic analysis of the thickness of the cranial bones in captive compared to wild-living cheetahs and in cheetahs with hypovitaminosis A
title Radiographic analysis of the thickness of the cranial bones in captive compared to wild-living cheetahs and in cheetahs with hypovitaminosis A
title_full Radiographic analysis of the thickness of the cranial bones in captive compared to wild-living cheetahs and in cheetahs with hypovitaminosis A
title_fullStr Radiographic analysis of the thickness of the cranial bones in captive compared to wild-living cheetahs and in cheetahs with hypovitaminosis A
title_full_unstemmed Radiographic analysis of the thickness of the cranial bones in captive compared to wild-living cheetahs and in cheetahs with hypovitaminosis A
title_short Radiographic analysis of the thickness of the cranial bones in captive compared to wild-living cheetahs and in cheetahs with hypovitaminosis A
title_sort radiographic analysis of the thickness of the cranial bones in captive compared to wild-living cheetahs and in cheetahs with hypovitaminosis a
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8354437/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34375363
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255924
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