Document Type
Article
Author ORCID Identifier
Kwanho C. Ki https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4728-3306
Erin L. Lewis https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4318-3428
Francis J. Oliaro https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5927-1740
Lise M. Aubry https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3318-7329
Karen M. Kapheim https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8140-7712
Susannah S. French https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8923-9728
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Journal of Experimental Biology
Volume
227
Issue
13
Publisher
The Company of Biologists Ltd.
Publication Date
7-3-2024
Journal Article Version
Version of Record
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
First Page
1
Last Page
15
Abstract
The present work aimed to study whether a high sugar diet can alter immune responses and the gut microbiome in green iguanas. Thirty-six iguanas were split into four treatment groups using a 2x2 design. Iguanas received either a sugar-supplemented diet or a control diet, and either a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection or a phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) injection. Iguanas were given their respective diet treatment through the entire study (~3 months) and received a primary immune challenge 1 and 2 months into the experiment. Blood samples and cloacal swabs were taken at various points in the experiment and used to measure changes in the immune system (bacterial killing ability, lysis and agglutination scores, LPS-specific IgY concentrations), and alterations in the gut microbiome. We found that a sugar diet reduces bacterial killing ability following an LPS challenge, and sugar and the immune challenge temporarily alters gut microbiome composition while reducing alpha diversity. Although sugar did not directly reduce lysis and agglutination following the immune challenge, the change in these scores over a 24-h period following an immune challenge was more drastic (it decreased) relative to the control diet group. Moreover, sugar increased constitutive agglutination outside of the immune challenges (i.e. pre-challenge levels). In this study, we provide evidence that a high sugar diet affects the immune system of green iguanas (in a disruptive manner) and alters the gut microbiome.
Recommended Citation
Kwanho C. Ki, Erin L. Lewis, Elizabeth Wu, Francis J. Oliaro, Lise M. Aubry, Charles R. Knapp, Karen M. Kapheim, Dale DeNardo, Susannah S. French; High sugar diet alters immune function and the gut microbiome in juvenile green iguanas (Iguana iguana). J Exp Biol 1 July 2024; 227 (13): jeb246981. doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.246981
