TY - JOUR
T1 - Formerly bile-farmed bears as a model of accelerated ageing
AU - Kalogeropoulu, Szilvia K.
AU - Rauch-Schmücking, Hanna
AU - Lloyd, Emily J.
AU - Stenvinkel, Peter
AU - Shiels, Paul G.
AU - Johnson, Richard J.
AU - Fröbert, Ole
AU - Redtenbacher, Irene
AU - Burgener, Iwan A.
AU - Painer-Gigler, Johanna
PY - 2023/12
Y1 - 2023/12
N2 - Bear bile-farming is common in East and Southeast Asia and this farming practice often results in irreversible health outcomes for the animals. We studied long-term effects of chronic bacterial and sterile hepatobiliary inflammation in 42 Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) rescued from Vietnamese bile farms. The bears were examined under anesthesia at least twice as part of essential medical interventions. All bears were diagnosed with chronic low-grade sterile or bacterial hepatobiliary inflammation along with pathologies from other systems. Our main finding was that the chronic low-grade inflammatory environment associated with bile extraction in conjunction with the suboptimal living conditions on the farms promoted and accelerated the development of age-related pathologies such as chronic kidney disease, obese sarcopenia, cardiovascular remodeling, and degenerative joint disease. Through a biomimetic approach, we identified similarities with inflammation related to premature aging in humans and found significant deviations from the healthy ursid phenotype. The pathological parallels with inflammageing and immuno-senescence induced conditions in humans suggest that bile-farmed bears may serve as animal models to investigate pathophysiology and deleterious effects of lifestyle-related diseases.
AB - Bear bile-farming is common in East and Southeast Asia and this farming practice often results in irreversible health outcomes for the animals. We studied long-term effects of chronic bacterial and sterile hepatobiliary inflammation in 42 Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) rescued from Vietnamese bile farms. The bears were examined under anesthesia at least twice as part of essential medical interventions. All bears were diagnosed with chronic low-grade sterile or bacterial hepatobiliary inflammation along with pathologies from other systems. Our main finding was that the chronic low-grade inflammatory environment associated with bile extraction in conjunction with the suboptimal living conditions on the farms promoted and accelerated the development of age-related pathologies such as chronic kidney disease, obese sarcopenia, cardiovascular remodeling, and degenerative joint disease. Through a biomimetic approach, we identified similarities with inflammation related to premature aging in humans and found significant deviations from the healthy ursid phenotype. The pathological parallels with inflammageing and immuno-senescence induced conditions in humans suggest that bile-farmed bears may serve as animal models to investigate pathophysiology and deleterious effects of lifestyle-related diseases.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85161989607&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-023-36447-z
DO - 10.1038/s41598-023-36447-z
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 37322151
AN - SCOPUS:85161989607
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 13
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
IS - 1
M1 - 9691
ER -