Blubber and serum cortisol concentrations as indicators of the stress response and overall health status in striped dolphins
Agusti Pujol, Clara (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Sanitat i d'Anatomia Animals)
Carbajal, Annaïs (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Sanitat i d'Anatomia Animals)
Olvera-Maneu, Sergi (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Sanitat i d'Anatomia Animals)
Domingo, Mariano (Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries. Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal)
López Béjar, Manel (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Sanitat i d'Anatomia Animals)

Fecha:	2022
Resumen:	The impacts of environmental changes and anthropogenic threats in marine mammals are a growing concern for their conservation. In recent years, efforts have been directed to understand how marine mammals cope with stressors and to assess and validate stress biomarkers, mainly levels of glucocorticoid hormones (e. g. cortisol) in certain body tissues. The aims of this study were to assess the impact of different causes of stranding (chronically affected and bycaught striped dolphins) on cortisol concentrations in serum and in blubber; and to evaluate the association between cortisol levels in these tissues. Blubber and blood samples were collected from striped dolphins (n = 42) stranded on the Mediterranean coast between 2012 and 2018. Cortisol concentrations were measured by using enzyme immunoassay. A high correlation was found between circulating and blubber cortisol concentrations (R = 0. 85, p < 0. 01). Necropsies and pathological studies concluded that a third of the dolphins were bycaught in fishing nets and released by fishermen (Bycaught animals group), while the other two thirds were euthanized, or died, due to a disease or chronic condition (e. g. calves separated from the mother or animals infected with dolphin morbillivirus or Brucella ceti) that impeded survival (Chronically affected animals group). Cortisol concentrations (mean ± SD) were six times higher in chronically affected animals (35. 3 ± 23 ng cortisol/g blubber and 6. 63 ± 3. 22 μg cortisol/dl serum) compared to those bycaught in fishing nets (6. 2 ± 4. 3 ng cortisol/g blubber and 1. 15 ± 1. 51 μg cortisol/dl serum). Results suggests that serum and blubber cortisol concentrations can contribute in inferring the overall health and welfare of free-ranging cetaceans. However, further research is required to understand better the kinetics of blubber cortisol incorporation and removal, the factors involved in these processes, and the local conversion of cortisol in the blubber.
Nota:	Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UAB
Derechos:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Lengua:	Anglès
Documento:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Materia:	Stress ; Blubber ; Cortisol ; Striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) ; Stranding ; Bycatch
Publicado en:	Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology -Part A : Molecular and Integrative Physiology, Vol. 272 (october 2022) , p. 111268, ISSN 1531-4332

DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2022.111268
PMID: 35817193

9 p, 1.0 MB

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