Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Laboratorio de Fisiología Molecular y Estructural, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, San Nicolas de los Garza, Mexico.
Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Laboratorio de Vida Silvestre, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, General Escobedo, Mexico.
PLoS One. 2023 Feb 3;18(2):e0272979. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272979. eCollection 2023.
Ursus americanus Pallas 1780 is the largest carnivore and the only ursid in Mexico. It is considered an endangered species in the country because its distribution and population have been reduced by up to 80% because of habitat loss or furtive hunting. These problems can lead to a diet change, which could result in metabolic disorders, such as fatty acid β-oxidation defects or organic acid metabolism disorders. In our study, a free amino acid and acylcarnitine profile was characterized.
Peripheral blood samples were drawn from nine free-ranging black bears in a period of five months, from June to October of 2019 in Northeastern Mexico, and 12 amino acids and 30 acylcarnitines were determined and quantified. Age differences were observed in the samples through ANOVA and post-hoc Tukey test.
Only three metabolites showed a significant difference with age: alanine (Ala) [cubs vs juvenile], free-carnitine (C0) [juvenile vs cubs] and acetylcarnitine (C2) [cubs vs adults and juvenile vs cubs].
Metabolites with variability due to age were identified, making them potential biomarkers to monitor metabolic status as early diagnosis in endangered species. This is the first study of black bear amino acid and acylcarnitine profiles, and the values found could be used as reference for free amino acid and acylcarnitine concentrations in further studies of the species.
美洲黑熊（Ursus americanus Pallas 1780）是墨西哥最大的食肉动物，也是唯一的熊科动物。由于栖息地丧失或偷猎，其分布范围和数量减少了多达 80%，它被认为是该国的濒危物种。这些问题可能导致饮食改变，从而导致代谢紊乱，例如脂肪酸β-氧化缺陷或有机酸代谢紊乱。在我们的研究中，我们对一种游离氨基酸和酰基肉碱谱进行了特征描述。
2019 年 6 月至 10 月期间，从墨西哥东北部的 9 只自由放养的黑熊中抽取外周血样，共 5 个月。测定并定量了 12 种氨基酸和 30 种酰基肉碱。通过方差分析和事后 Tukey 检验观察了样本中的年龄差异。
仅三种代谢物的年龄差异具有统计学意义：丙氨酸（Ala）[幼熊与幼崽]、游离肉碱（C0）[幼崽与幼熊]和乙酰肉碱（C2）[幼熊与成年熊和幼熊与幼崽]。
确定了由于年龄而具有可变性的代谢物，这些代谢物可能成为监测濒危物种代谢状况的潜在生物标志物，以便早期诊断。这是关于黑熊氨基酸和酰基肉碱谱的第一项研究，发现的数值可作为进一步研究该物种的游离氨基酸和酰基肉碱浓度的参考。
