Meeting Abstract
P1.112 Thursday, Jan. 3 Thermogenesis of digestion in juvenile Burmese pythons. POWOLNY, T.; SECOR, S.M.; LIGNOT, J-H*; CNRS; University of Alabama; University Louis Pasteur J-H.Lignot@c-strasbourg.fr
Burmese pythons experience dramatic increases in metabolism during meal digestion. In this study we investigated the extent that meal induced thermogenesis contributes to altering the body temperature of digesting Burmese pythons. To monitor the body temperature of digesting juvenile Burmese pythons, we surgically implanted miniature temperature data loggers adjacent to the stomach and small intestine. We also took infrared images of pythons fasted and up to 120 hours after feeding to record skin temperatures. We assess the effects of environmental temperature on postprandial thermogenesis by recording skin and body temperatures during the digestion of a rodent meal equalling 20% of snake body mass at room temperatures of 20, 25, 30, and 35�C. We also identified the effects of meal size on thermogenesis by recording temperatures following the ingestion of meals equalling 10, 20, or 30% of snake body mass. At 20�C, skin and body temperatures of digesting pythons were barely elevated above room temperature. However, between 25 and 35�C, skin and body temperatures rapidly increase after feeding and peaked 20-24 hours after feeding at 1�2.5�C above room temperature. Thereafter, body temperatures remained elevated before returning to room temperature 50-80 hours after feeding. With an increase in meal size, pythons experienced a larger increase in skin and body temperatures and a longer duration of elevated temperatures. For 10% meal, body temperature rose by 1.2�C and remained elevated for 60 hours, whereas for the 30% meals, body temperature increased by 2.5 �C and remained elevated for 80 hours. With the increase in meal size, the pythons� thermogenic profiles match closely their postprandial profiles of oxygen consumption. A by-product of the work of digestion, this endogenous production of heat is beneficial to the python in increasing the rate of meal digestion and assimilation.
