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W R Hood

Publications and source records attributed to W R Hood.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Plasma leptin decreases during lactation in insectivorous bats.

We previously demonstrated high leptin levels during late pregnancy in little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus). We now extend these observations to a second species, the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus), and also report that leptin increases after the first trimester of pregnancy. Leptin decreased to baseline 1 week following parturition, with a half-time decay of 2 days. During lactation, leptin was significantly correlated with body mass in E. fuscus, but not in M. lucifugus. No circadian pattern of leptin was observed in M. lucifugus. The decrease in post-partum leptin in bats may be partly explained by loss of putative placental leptin. The continued decrease may reflect depletion of body fat during this energy demanding period, at least in Eptesicus. Changes in leptin during lactation appeared to be independent of circadian effects and time of sampling. Our study provides additional evidence that leptin increases during pregnancy and declines during lactation in a free-ranging mammal, supporting the hypothesis that leptin plays important but yet undetermined roles in reproduction.

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PubMedDate not supplied

Interspecific and intraspecific variation in proximate, mineral, and fatty acid composition of milk in Old World fruit bats (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae).

We examine the effect of body mass on milk composition among Old World fruit bats, including Pteropus pumilus (0.175 kg), Pteropus rodricensus (0.265 kg), Pteropus hypomelanus (0.571 kg), and Pteropus vampyrus (1.133 kg). We describe intra- and interspecific differences in the proximate composition of milk among these four species and the minerals and fatty acids in the milk of the latter two species. There were no differences between species in the concentrations of dry matter, fat, or lactose in milk. However, there were significant, although small, differences in the protein content of milk among species, with protein being significantly greater in P. rodricensus than in P. pumilus and P. hypomelanus and protein being significantly less in P. hypomelanus than in P. rodricensus and P. vampyrus. There were no differences in mineral content between P. hypomelanus and P. vampyrus in milk minerals, but minor differences were evident in fatty acids 12:0, 14:0, 18:0, 18:1n11, and 18:2n6. Our findings suggest that milk composition is relatively constant across lactation for most proximate, mineral, and fatty acid components. We found a significant increase in dry matter and energy across lactation in the concentration of dry matter and energy in P. pumilus and fat in P. hypomelanus. In P. hypomelanus, we found a significant increase in the concentration of fatty acids 10:0 and 20:1n9 and a significant decrease in Iso15 and 20:1n7. No other differences associated with day of lactation were found. These findings suggest that milk composition is generally similar within the genus Pteropus, despite a 6.5-fold difference in body mass between species that we evaluated.

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