不同生活环境下小熊猫皮质醇和肠道微生物的变化规律OA北大核心CSTPCD

Gut microbiota are susceptible to environmental stresses and the relative stability of their structure is essential for maintaining animal health.Cortisol,as a stress hormone,not only responds to the current stress condition of the ani-mal but also affects the gut microbiota structure of the animal.However,the covariation mechanism between gut flora and faecal cortisol in Ailurus fulgens has not been investigated yet.We compared the fecal cortisol and gut microbiota structure of Ailurus fulgens in different living environments(captive,semi-free-ranging and wild)to elucidate the pat-terns of change in cortisol and gut microbiota organisms.The results revealed that among different living environments,the lowest cortisol concentration was found in captive condition(71.1±21.6)ng/g,and its concentration was(111.3±5.6)ng/g in semi-free-ranging environment,while the highest(5094.8±5383.9)ng/g was found in wild environment.Meanwhile,the highest shannon index of gut microbiota of Ailurus fulgens was found in the semi-free-ranging environ-ment(6.178),followed by the wild condition(5.535),and the lowest in captive environment(3.449).Cortisol concen-trations in captive Ailurus fulgens showed a significant negative correlation(P＜0.001)with Escherichia-Shigella and a significant positive correlation(P＜0.001)with Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1.In summary,different living environ-ments significantly affect the gut microbiota composition and faecal cortisol concentration of Ailurus fulgens.Reducing the frequency and intensity of environmental changes can effectively reduce their stress and maintain the health and sta-bility of the gut flora,which will provide technical support for the health management of Ailurus fulgens populations.