Comparison of gut microbiota composition between laboratory-bred marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) with chronic diarrhea and healthy animals using T-RFLP analysis.

Chronic diarrhea among laboratory-bred marmosets represents a serious problem for the health control during experiments. Despite the growing demand for the laboratory-bred experimental marmosets, the mechanisms underlying the development of diarrhea and its effective treatment and prevention remain unclear. To explore the factors affecting the development of chronic diarrhea in the laboratory-bred marmosets, we analyzed the gut microbiota composition (GMC) of 58 laboratory-bred marmosets, including 19 animals with chronic diarrhea, using the terminal-RFLP analysis. We demonstrated that the GMCs analyzed in these animals cluster into two groups with significant difference in the rate of chronic diarrhea morbidity between them (56.5% in one group, Cluster 1, and 17.1% in Cluster 2). Additionally, the animals grouped into the Cluster 1 were shown to have a higher α-diversity and have a lower proportion of Bifidobacterium spp. quantified by qPCR, compared with those in the animals belonging to the Cluster 2. Taken together, our findings indicate that a relationship exists between the GMC and chronic diarrhea development among laboratory-bred marmosets. This is the first study highlighting the potential of the GMC assessment in the chronic diarrhea development in laboratory-bred marmoset.