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caecum
(redirected from cecal)

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caecum

In the digestive system of animals, a blind-ending tube branching off from the first part of the large intestine, terminating in the appendix. It has no function in humans but is used for the digestion of cellulose by some grass-eating mammals.

The rabbit caecum and appendix contains millions of bacteria that produce cellulase, the enzyme necessary for the breakdown of cellulose to glucose. In order to be able to absorb nutrients released by the breakdown of cellulose, rabbits pass food twice down the intestine. They egest soft pellets which are then re-eaten. This is known as coprophagy.



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? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
Studies using cecal ligation and perforation (CLP) in mice have shown profound lymphocyte apoptosis in multiple organs, including the thymus and spleen (8).
Prevention of immune cell apoptosis as potential therapeutic strategy ... by Bray, Mike / Emerging Infectious Diseases
The microbes on fresh poultry products may reflect the cecal contents of the individual bird at harvest as well as conditions in the processing plant.
Fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter isolates from conventional ... by Silbergeld, Ellen / Environmental Health Perspectives
Before a 6-month old koala is fully weaned from milk and starts an adult diet of eucalyptus leaves, the furry creature begins a monthlong transition diet of cecal feeding: The koala leans out to eat mom's excrement directly from her anus.
Australia's Amazing Animals by CHIANG, MONA / Science World
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