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The determination of dietary habits by examination of fresh stomach, intestinal or faecal material is widely used in vertebrate and invertebrate ecology. Generally speaking, most fresh faecal studies depend upon microscopic determinations of the ingested material. One of the more recent applications includes microscopic studies of the grazing habits of sheep. [...]

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Identification of pollen in fecal pellets is a potential technique for describing an animals diet and in turn the vegetation of an area. Mule deer and Bighorn Sheep pellets representing both summer and winter browsing and a variety of habitats were examined using relative percentages and the absolute pollen frequencies. In addition, fossil pellets from Stanton's Cave, Grand Canyon, Arizona, were examined and compared with modern pellets. Absolute pollen frequencies of individual pellets showed higher values and greater variation for summer pellets than for winter pellets. Relative pollen percentages for a specific vegetation type showed more variation in fecal pellets than in soil surface samples. Unless specifically being eaten, arboreal pollen types such as Pinus are less abundant in fecal pellets than in soil samples. Unlike soil surface samples, arboreal pollen types in fecal pellets are frequently limited to the immediate source area.

Dietary factors have been implicated in the etiology of colon cancer. The salient components of high-risk diets are thought to be high intakes of meat, especially beef, and fat, especially animal fat, and low intakes of fiber. Low-risk diets are thought to be high in fiber, and low in meat and animal fat. The present study examines the effects of short-term consumption of diets hypothesized to increase or decrease the risk for colon cancer on mutagenic activity of feces. Whether the fecal mutagens responsible for the mutagenic activity observed in the study are directly involved in the etiology of colon cancer is not known. However, most known mutagens are potentially carcinogenic, and fecal mutagenic activity may be an indicator of risk for colon cancer. Six healthy adult subjects consumed the following diets in sequence a baseline diet for one week, a low-risk lacto-ovo vegetarian, high fiber diet for two weeks, and a high-risk, high meat, low fiber diet for two weeks. Quantitative daily food intake records were kept, and daily bowel habits were recorded. Fecal samples were collected at the end of each diet period. Analyses were performed of the diets for food and nutrient intake, and of feces for percent dry weight and pH. Mutagenic activity of the fecal samples was assayed using the fluctuation test for mutagens. The subjects' habitual diets, although omnivorous, were found to closely resemble a low-risk diet pattern. Analysis of the vegetarian and high meat diets confirmed that the subjects had consumed foods which respectively represented the components of high-risk and low-risk diets. The overall fecal mutagenic activity obtained with samples on the high meat diet was higher than with the vegetarian or baseline diets using Salmonella typhimurium TA 98 and TA 100. The trend towards higher mutagenicity on the high meat diet over the vegetarian diet was consistent for all six subjects using TA 100, and for five of the six using TA 98. The vegetarian and baseline diets resulted in similar overall mutagenic activity. Analysis of the fecal sample parameters using the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance showed no significant differences among fecal samples from the three diet periods with respect to wet weight, dry weight, percent dry weight, pH or number of daily bowel movements. However, a sign-test analysis showed a significant trend (p<0.05) towards fewer bowel movements on the high meat diet than on the vegetarian diet. There were significant differences among subjects for all of the fecal sample parameters (p<0.01 or p<0.001). Spearman rank correlations were significantly positive between mutagenic activities using bacterial strains Salmonella typhimurium TA 98 and TA 100 for the baseline diet (p<0.01) and the vegetarian diet (p<0.05). There were also significant positive correlations (p<0.001) between pH and fecal mutagenicity on the high meat' diet using tester strain TA 100, and between wet weight and dry weight. The results of this study indicate that the overall mutagenic activity of human feces can be increased over a period of two weeks by the consumption of a diet high in meat and low in fiber, which is considered to be a high-risk diet for colon cancer. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

Mutagens in feces have been suggested to be an indicator for risk of colon cancer. Groups consuming vegetarian diets are known to have lower mortality from colon cancer. The purpose of this study was to assess mutagenic activity in feces of persons habitually consuming vegetarian or non-vegetarian diets and to try to identify dietary factors or other health habits which contributed to fecal mutagenicity. Eleven strict vegetarians, six ovo-lacto vegetarians and twelve non-vegetarians, all from the Greater Vancouver area, participated in this study. Data on certain demographic variables and health habits, as well as dietary intake (food frequency and food records), were taken. One fecal sample was collected from each subject for the study. Aqueous extracts of the feces were prepared and analyzed for mutagens using the fluctuation test with Salmonella typhimurium TA100 and TA98. Levels of mutagenicity on each organism were then statistically correlated with frequency of consumption of food groups, nutrient intake, demographic data and health habits. Ovo-lacto vegetarians and strict vegetarians, as groups, had significantly lower levels of fecal mutagens than non-vegetarians in the TA100 assay. With TA98, only the strict vegetarians had lower levels of mutagens compared to the non-vegetarians. The presence of several different mutagenic compounds was indicated. Significant negative correlations were found with mutagenicity on TA98 for all subjects with the following dietary variables: fruits and juices, fiber and iron. Similar negative correlations were found for total carbohydrate and Southgate fiber intakes and mutagenicity on TA100. Within the group of non-vegetarians, there were negative correlations with mutagenicity on TA98 and total protein and with mutagenicity on TA100 and calcium. With the demographic variables and health habits, no clear pattern emerged to indicate factors which would predict lowered mutagenicity for all subjects. It is concluded that vegetarians have lower levels of fecal mutagenicity and that several dietary factors are likely to contribute to this phenomenon. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate