Nutritional influences on enzyme activities in saliva of Asian and African elephants.

Asian and African elephants show morphological adaptations to their ecological niche including the oral cavity. Variety and preferences of forage plants differ between both herbivorous elephant species. Diet can affect salivary enzymes.

Caries and periodontitis associated bacteria are more abundant in human saliva compared to other great apes.

Objective: Caries and periodontitis are uncommon in free ranging great apes but a major oral disease in humans. The aim was to analyze abundance and diversity of oral bacteria of western humans and their closest relatives, to examine if zoo apes feeding on diet other than in their natural habitat show caries and periodontitis associated salivary bacteria and comparable susceptibility for oral civilization diseases as humans.

Design: Bacterial composition of human and great ape saliva samples were compared by analyzing the V3 region of the bacteria 16S rRNA gene by Next Generation Sequencing with Ion Torrent.

Does diet influence salivary enzyme activities in elephant species?

Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and African elephants (Loxodonta africana) are herbivore generalists; however, Asian elephants might ingest a higher proportion of grasses than Africans. Although some studies have investigated nutrition-specific morphological adaptations of the two species, broader studies on salivary enzymes in both elephant species are lacking. This study focuses on the comparison of salivary enzymes activity profiles in the two elephant species; these enzymes are relevant for protective and digestive functions in humans.

Salivary amylase - The enzyme of unspecialized euryphagous animals.

Introduction: Alpha-amylase (EC 3.2.1.