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International audience; Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a renal disorder characterized by the accumulation of uremic toxins with limited strategies to reduce their concentrations. A large amount of data supports the pivotal role of intestinal microbiota in CKD complications and as a major source of uremic toxins production. Here, we explored whether fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) could be attenuated in metabolic complication and uremic toxin accumulation in mice with CKD. Methods: Kidney failure was chemically induced by a diet containing 0.25% (w/w) of adenine for four weeks. Mice were randomized into three groups: control, CKD and CKD + FMT groups. After four weeks, CKD mice underwent fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from healthy mice or phosphate buffered saline as control. The gut microbiota structure, uremic toxins plasmatic concentrations, and metabolic profiles were explored three weeks after transplantation. Results: Associated with the increase of alpha diversity, we observed a noticeable improvement of gut microbiota disturbance, after FMT treatment. FMT further decreased p-cresyl sulfate accumulation and improved glucose tolerance. There was no change in kidney function. Conclusions: These data indicate that FMT limited the accumulation of uremic toxins issued from intestinal cresol pathway by a beneficial effect on gut microbiota diversity. Further studies are needed to investigate the FMT efficiency, the timing and feces amount for the transplantation before, to become a therapeutic option in CKD patients.

Myostatin (MSTN), a negative regulator of skeletal muscle development in mammals, represents a key target for genetic investigations in meat-producing animals, with mutations responsible for increased skeletal-muscle mass currently described in several livestock species. Dromedary camels play a major economic role as suppliers of meat for human consumption across several countries. Notwithstanding, a comprehensive characterization of the sequence variability at the Camelus dromedarius MSTN locus was still lacking. Here we present the first extensive sequence and polymorphism analysis of the MSTN gene in the Camelus dromedarius species. Out of more than 3.6 kb of nucleotide sequence screened on 22 animals from 3 different Northern African regions, only 3 variant sites in the first intron were detected. The low observed diversity may reflect the evolutionary history of the species, likely developed as domesticates from a low variable wild ancestor population. Sequence identity among Camelus dromedarius and other Cetartiodactyla highlighted a tree topology consistent with previous reports of a closer relationship between Tylopoda and Suiformes. A close similarity between C. ferus and Camelus dromedarius was observed within Tylopoda. A markedly higher sequence identity between Camelus dromedarius and the other vertebrate species was observed at the MSTN locus compared to other genes, thus confirming it as a highly conserved target across mammals.