ABSTRACT
Recent studies have shown that the gut microbiota plays an important role in the pathogenesis of gastrointestinal diseases in various animal species. There are only limited data on the microbiome in cats with varying grades of dysbiosis. The purpose of the study was a detailed analysis of the quantitative and qualitative fecal microbiota spectrum in cats with intestinal dysbiosis of varying severity. The data obtained indicate that, depending on the dysbiosis severity in cats, the intestinal microbiome landscape changes significantly. It has been established that, depending on the dysbiosis severity, there is a shift in the balance between the Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial pools and in the nature of the isolation of specific bacteria forms, in the amount of obligate microbiota isolation, as well as individual facultative strains. When analyzing the serotyping of E. coli cultures isolated at various grades of intestinal dysbiosis severity, differences were found both in the isolation amount of various serotypes from one animal and in the prevalence of certain serotypes for each disease severity. A retrospective analysis of the fecal microbiota sensitivity in cats with dysbiosis to antibacterial drugs showed that, depending on the disease severity, the number of isolates sensitive to antibiotics increases significantly.
ABSTRACT
The cohorts of people formerly living at the Techa River shoreline in the Southern Urals, Russia, are widely studied cohorts for the investigation of low-dose radiation effects to human health. The nuclear facilities of the Mayak Production Association (PA) discharged their radioactive effluents into the nearby Techa River, especially in the first years of operation. Health status of cohort member data is constantly being improved and updated. Consequently, there is a need to also improve and verify the underlying dosimetry, which gives information about the dose of cohort members. For the Techa River population, the dosimetry is handled in the Techa River Dosimetry System (TRDS). The present work shows results of a feasibility study to validate the TRDS at the location of the village of Metlino, a village just 7 km downstream from the Mayak PA. For this settlement there were two sources of external exposure, the contaminated banks of the Techa River and the contaminated shoreline of the nearby Metlinsky Pond. In the present study the north-western wall of a granary was used as a dose archive to validate dose estimates. Measurements of doses in brick accumulated over many decades and measurements of the current dose rate in bricks were combined with dose rate measurements in air above ground in front of the granary, historical contamination data and Monte-Carlo simulations. Air kerma estimates for 1949-1956 significantly different from zero could not be reconstructed for the Metlinsky Pond shoreline near the granary, but an upper dose limit could be estimated. Implications for TRDS-2016 are discussed.
