{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T18:30:42Z","timestamp":1784831442507,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":63,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,10]],"date-time":"2021-08-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1628553600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Captive cheetahs often demonstrate a high incidence of diseases in which vitamin A imbalances are implicated. These can occur even under controlled and optimised feeding regimens, which is why surveillance of vitamin A status is mandatory in the successful health management of cheetahs. Serum levels of the vitamin do not reflect the true vitamin A status and liver tissue analysis is rather impractical for routine application in large felids. A biomarker for evaluating overt and subclinical vitamin A deficiency in cheetahs is needed. This study evaluates whether increased calvarial bone thickness can be detected on routine skull radiographs of vitamin A deficient cheetahs compared to unaffected animals, and secondly, evaluates whether there is increased bone thickness in clinically sound captive cheetahs in general compared to wild-living controls. Bone thickness in the neuro- and splanchnocranium was measured in 138 skull radiographs. Significant thickening of the parietal bones was found in latero-lateral radiographs of immature cheetahs (&lt; 12 months) with vitamin A deficiency. This finding may allow a presumptive diagnosis of hypovitaminosis A in immature cheetahs. A general difference in skull thickness between free-living and captive cheetahs was not found.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0255924","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,10]],"date-time":"2021-08-10T17:23:10Z","timestamp":1628616190000},"page":"e0255924","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Radiographic analysis of the thickness of the cranial bones in captive compared to wild-living cheetahs and in cheetahs with hypovitaminosis A"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3481-4737","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Martin 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