ABSTRACT
Quantifying genetic kinship and parentage is critical to understanding the adaptive consequences of sociality. To measure fitness in a species with variable group structure, we isolated 14 microsatellite loci from Octodon degus, a semi-fossorial rodent endemic to Chile. The number of alleles per locus ranged from four to 14. Thirteen loci were in Hardy-Weinberg proportions, with values of observed heterozygosity ranging from 0.550 to 0.950. These markers provide the basis for future studies of the direct fitness consequences of sociality in O. degus.
ABSTRACT
alpha-Tocopherol content in breast milk of 28 mothers who delivered preterm infants (preterm milk) and 43 mothers who delivered full-term infants (term milk) were measured. alpha-Tocopherol concentration in preterm milk did not differ significantly from that of term milk in the first 12 days of lactation (P > 0.05). There is a higher alpha-tocopherol concentration in the early colostrum, however, it decreases with the lactational days significantly. The investigation suggests that early breast-feeding would be beneficial to the improvement of vitamin E intake in neonates during the early life.
PIP: In China, clinicians gathered samples of human milk from 28 mothers of preterm infants (gestational age [GA] = 28-36 weeks; mean birth weight = 2062 g) and 43 mothers of full term infants (GA = 38-41 weeks; mean birth weight =or 2700 g) within the first 12 days after delivery at the Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical College. To determine the vitamin E content in human milk, they had the alpha-tocopherol (the most biologically active form) content measured. The mean alpha-tocopherol concentration in term milk was 16.11 mcmol/l which is about 50% lower than that reported in term milk in developed countries. In preterm milk, it was 13.95 mcmol/l. The mean alpha-tocopherol level was highest in the early colostrum (first 2-3 days) in both groups (18.06 mcmol/l for preterm milk and 17.22 mcmol/l for term milk) and fell significantly with each day (4-12 days, 11.28-10.86 mcmol/l for preterm milk and 16.44-10 mcmol/l for term milk, respectively; p 0.05). Continued investigation of the preterm milk of 3 mothers for 25 days supported the downward trend in alpha-tocopherol levels. These findings show that early breast feeding would improve the vitamin E intake in neonates.
