Plasma Activity of the Broad-snouted Caiman (Caiman latirostris)

PABLO A. SIROSKI, CARLOS I. PIÑA, ALEJANDRO LARRIERA, MARK E. MERCHANT, AND JOSE DI CONZA

ZOOLOGICAL STUDIES

ACAD SINICA INST ZOOLOGY

Lugar: Taipei, Taiwan; Año: 2009 vol. 48 p. 238 - 242

1021-5506

Crocodilians exhibit well-defined social behaviors, which  frequently  result  in serious wounds as a consequence of social disputes  including  the  loss of entire  limbs.   Despite  the severity of many wounds,  there  is  typically  little sign of infection.  A common question is how these animals survive with serious wounds without showing obvious signs of  illness, particularly when  living  in environments containing potentially pathogenic microbes. In  this study we determined  in vitro plasma antibacterial activity of  the Broad-snouted caiman  (Caiman  latirostris) against Escherichia coli and compared  it  to  that  in hen (Gallus gallus) and human plasma. Colony  forming units were measured at different exposure  times  (0, 1, 3, and 6 h).   The antibacterial activity of Broad-snouted caiman plasma was consistently superior to those of human and hen plasma, and hen plasma had greater activity than human plasma except at 3 h of exposure.  Only C. latirostris plasma completely inhibited E. coli proliferation at 6 h.