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Updated: Dec 7, 2025

Canine Intestinal Organoids in a Dual-Chamber Permeable Support System
Published on: March 2, 2022
Molecular Recalcitrance of Hair Passing the Digestive System of a Canid
Johannes Tintner1, Jennifer Hatlauf2, Heidi Weber1
1Institute of Physics and Materials Science, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Peter Jordan Straße 82, 1190 Vienna, Austria.
Abstract:
Hair is an important component in scat that is commonly used for prey analyses in carnivores. Chemically, hair predominately consists of keratin. The recalcitrant fiber protein is degraded in nature only by a few insects and soil microorganisms. Common proteases such as pepsin do not decompose keratin. Infrared spectroscopy was used to detect chemical differences caused by pretreatment and fate of hairs. Three sample sets were compared: original untreated hair, original milled hair, and hairs extracted from scats of golden jackals (Canis aureus L.). The results revealed that only milling affected the infrared spectral pattern, whereas digestion had no impact. Moreover, hairs from different species (e.g., boar) could be distinguished due to their spectral characteristics. They did not change through the passage of the digestive system.
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