NMR spectroscopy based metabonomic studies on the comparative biochemistryof the kidney and urine of the bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus), wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), white toothed shrew (Crocidura suaveolens) and the laboratory rat

The metabolic profiles of three wild mammals that vary in their trophic str ategies, the herbivorous bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus), the granivoro us wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), and the insectivorous white-toothed sh rew (Crocidura suarveolens), were compared with that of a widely used strai n of laboratory rat (Sprague Dawley). In conjunction with NMR spectroscopic investigations into the urine and blood plasma composition for these mamma ls, high resolution magic angle spinning (HRMAS) H-1-nuclear magnetic reson ance (NMR) spectroscopy was applied to investigate the composition of intac t kidney samples. Adaptation to natural diet affects both renal metabolism and urinary profiles, and while these techniques have been used to study th e metabolism of the laboratory rat little is known about wild small mammals . The species were readily separated by their urinary profiles using either crude metabolite ratios or statistical pattern recognition. Bank vole urin e contained higher concentrations of aromatic amino acids compared with the other small mammals, while the laboratory rats produced relatively more hi ppurate. HRMAS H-1-NMR demonstrated striking differences in both lipid conc entration and composition between the wild mammals and Sprague Dawley rats. Bank voles contained high concentrations of the aromatic amino acids pheny lalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan in all tissue and biofluids studied. This study demonstrates the analytical power of combined NMR techniques for the study of inter-species metabolism and further demonstrates that metabolic data acquired on laboratory animals cannot be extended to wild species. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.