Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Molecular Biology Reports https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-018-04576-8 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Efect of gluten diet on blood innate immune gene expressions and stool consistency in Spix’s Saddleback Tamarin (Leontocebus fuscicollis) raised in captivity Taianara Tocantins Gomes Almeida 1  · Maria Vivina Barros Monteiro 2  · Rafaelle Casseb Guimarães 3  · Alexandre Rosário Casseb 3  · Michael Alan Hufman 4  · Evonnildo Costa Gonçalves 2  · Frederico Ozanan Barros Monteiro 3  · Ednaldo Silva Filho 3 Received: 28 May 2018 / Accepted: 14 December 2018 © Springer Nature B.V. 2019 Abstract The callitrichids are non-human primates that feed on insects and plant matter in nature, but in captivity, they are fed mostly an artifcial diet containing amounts of gluten, in their toxic forms in items such as wheat, barley and rye. The aim of this research was to estimate the blood β-defensin and Toll like receptor 5 (TLR5) gene expressions and to analyze the stool consistency (frm, soft, diarrheic) in Leontocebus fuscicollis raised in captivity. Blood samples of animals under gluten-free and gluten diets were collected and their fecal output quality was periodically monitored and classifed during the course of the study. Gene expression was evaluated using real-time PCR. The stool consistencies of individuals fed a gluten diet were most frequently soft or diarrheic, while it was mostly normal in individuals fed a gluten-free diet. β-Defensin expres- sion increased in individuals fed a gluten diet, but decreased after 15 days. Expression normalized between 30 and 45 days on a gluten-free diet. However, expression of the TLR5 gene did not change under a gluten diet. A gluten diet afects stool quality, and brings about an immediate increase in blood β-defensin expression in the beginning but decreases after 15 days. Keywords Callitrichids · β-Defensin · TLR5 · Celiac disease · Tamarin · Health afects Abbreviations GD Gluten diet GFD Gluten free diet RT-PCR Real time-polymerase chain reaction Gene annotation TLR Toll like receptor GAPDH Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase Introduction The diet of callitrichids, a non-human primate (NHP) species in South America, consists mainly of fruits and insects (ants, termites) of distinct tree species, with sea- sonal variation in availability [ 1]. They also consume buds, fowers, leaves, young stems, resin and occasionally * Ednaldo Silva Filho silva.flho@ufra.edu.br Taianara Tocantins Gomes Almeida tai.nutri@hotmail.com Maria Vivina Barros Monteiro vivinabm@gmail.com Rafaelle Casseb Guimarães rafaellecassebg@gmail.com Alexandre Rosário Casseb alexcasseb@yahoo.com.br Michael Alan Hufman hufman@pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp Evonnildo Costa Gonçalves evogoncalves@gmail.com Frederico Ozanan Barros Monteiro fredericovet@hotmail.com 1 Departamento de Nutrição, Escola Superior da Amazônia, Belém, PA, Brazil 2 Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, PA, Brazil 3 Instituto da Saúde e Produção Animal, Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia, Belém, PA, Brazil 4 Primatology Research Institute (PRI), Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan