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Løseth ME, Flo J, Sonne C, Krogh AKH, Nygård T, Bustnes JO, Jenssen BM, Jaspers VLB. The influence of natural variation and organohalogenated contaminants on physiological parameters in white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) nestlings from Norway. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2019; 177:108586. [PMID: 31377582 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2019.108586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2019] [Revised: 07/10/2019] [Accepted: 07/13/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Environmental exposure to organohalogenated contaminants (OHCs), even at low concentrations, may cause detrimental effects on the development and health of wild birds. The present study investigated if environmental exposure to OHCs may influence the variation of multiple physiological parameters in Norwegian white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) nestlings. Plasma and feather samples were obtained from 70 nestlings at two archipelagos in Norway in 2015 and 2016. The selected physiological parameters were plasma concentrations of thyroid hormones (thyroxine, T4 and triiodothyronine, T3), plasma proteins (prealbumin, albumin, α1-, α2-, β- and γ-globulins) and selected blood clinical chemical parameters (BCCPs) associated with liver and kidney functioning. Feather concentrations of corticosterone (CORTf) were also included to investigate the overall stress level of the nestlings. Concentrations of all studied physiological parameters were within the ranges of those found in other species of free-living birds of prey nestlings and indicated that the white-tailed eagle nestlings were in good health. Our statistical models indicated that perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and legacy OHCs, such as polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorinated pesticides and polybrominated diphenyl ethers, influenced only a minor fraction of the variation of plasma thyroid hormones, prealbumin and CORTf (5-15%), and partly explained the selected BCCPs (<26%). Most of the variation in each studied physiological parameter was explained by variation between nests, which is most likely due to natural physiological variation of nestlings in these nests. This indicates the importance of accounting for between nest variation in future studies. In the present nestlings, OHC concentrations were relatively low and seem to have played a secondary role compared to natural variation concerning the variation of physiological parameters. However, our study also indicates a potential for OHC-induced effects on thyroid hormones, CORTf, prealbumin and BCCPs, which could be of concern in birds exposed to higher OHC concentrations than the present white-tailed eagle nestlings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mari Engvig Løseth
- Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), NO-7491, Trondheim, Norway.
| | - Jørgen Flo
- Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), NO-7491, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Christian Sonne
- Department of Bioscience, Arctic Research Centre (ARC), Aarhus University (AU), DK-4000, Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Anne Kirstine Havnsøe Krogh
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, University of Copenhagen (UCPH), Frederiksberg C, DK-1870, Denmark
| | - Torgeir Nygård
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), NO-7034, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Jan Ove Bustnes
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), FRAM - High North Research Centre on Climate and the Environment, NO-9007, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Bjørn Munro Jenssen
- Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), NO-7491, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Veerle L B Jaspers
- Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), NO-7491, Trondheim, Norway.
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Scheiber IBR, Weiß BM, de Jong ME, Braun A, van den Brink NW, Loonen MJJE, Millesi E, Komdeur J. Stress behaviour and physiology of developing Arctic barnacle goslings ( Branta leucopsis) is affected by legacy trace contaminants. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 285:20181866. [PMID: 30963902 PMCID: PMC6304058 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.1866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2018] [Accepted: 11/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Natural populations are persistently exposed to environmental pollution, which may adversely impact animal physiology and behaviour and even compromise survival. Responding appropriately to any stressor ultimately might tip the scales for survival, as mistimed behaviour and inadequate physiological responses may be detrimental. Yet effects of legacy contamination on immediate physiological and behavioural stress coping abilities during acute stress are virtually unknown. Here, we assessed these effects in barnacle goslings ( Branta leucopsis) at a historical coal mine site in the Arctic. For three weeks we led human-imprinted goslings, collected from nests in unpolluted areas, to feed in an abandoned coal mining area, where they were exposed to trace metals. As control we led their siblings to feed on clean grounds. After submitting both groups to three well-established stress tests (group isolation, individual isolation, on-back restraint), control goslings behaved calmer and excreted lower levels of corticosterone metabolites. Thus, legacy contamination may decisively change stress physiology and behaviour in long-lived vertebrates exposed at a young age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabella B. R. Scheiber
- Behavioural and Physiological Ecology, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
- Department of Behavioural Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Brigitte M. Weiß
- Behavioural Ecology Research Group, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Margje E. de Jong
- Arctic Centre, University of Groningen, 9718 CW Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Anna Braun
- Behavioural and Physiological Ecology, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Nico W. van den Brink
- Department of Toxicology, Wageningen University, 6700 EA Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Eva Millesi
- Department of Behavioural Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Jan Komdeur
- Behavioural and Physiological Ecology, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
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Franceschini MD, Evers DC, Kenow KP, Meyer MW, Pokras M, Romero LM. Mercury correlates with altered corticosterone but not testosterone or estradiol concentrations in common loons. ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 2017; 142:348-354. [PMID: 28437726 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2017.04.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2016] [Revised: 03/17/2017] [Accepted: 04/14/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
We investigated the relation between environmental mercury exposure and corticosterone concentrations in free-living adult common loons (Gavia immer). We determined blood and feather mercury concentrations and compared them to testosterone, estradiol, and stress-induced plasma corticosterone concentrations. Although neither testosterone nor estradiol correlated with Hg levels, there was a robust positive relation between blood Hg and stress-induced corticosterone concentrations in males, but not in females. The lack of an effect in females may have been due to overall less contamination in females. There were no significant correlations between feather Hg and stress-induced corticosterone in either sex. To help determine whether Hg had a causal effect on corticosterone, we investigated the impact of experimental Hg intake on the corticosterone stress response in captive juvenile loons. Juveniles were subjected to three different feeding regimes: 0, 0.4 and 1.2μg Hg (as MeHgCL)/g wet weight (ww) fish. We then measured baseline and 30min post-solitary confinement stressor corticosterone concentrations. The Hg fed chicks exhibited a decreased ability to mount a stress response. From these data, we conclude that Hg contamination does appear to alter the corticosterone response to stress, but not in a consistent predictable pattern. Regardless of the direction of change, however, exposure to mercury contamination and the resulting impact on the corticosterone stress response in common loons may substantially impact health, fitness and survival.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - David C Evers
- Biodiversity Research Institute, Portland, ME 04103, USA
| | - Kevin P Kenow
- US Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, WI 54603, USA
| | - Michael W Meyer
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Rhinelander, Wisconsin 54501, USA
| | - Mark Pokras
- Biodiversity Research Institute, Portland, ME 04103, USA; Wildlife Clinic, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, North Grafton, MA 01536, USA
| | - L Michael Romero
- Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA.
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Herring G, Ackerman JT, Herzog MP. Mercury exposure may suppress baseline corticosterone levels in juvenile birds. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2012; 46:6339-6346. [PMID: 22578153 DOI: 10.1021/es300668c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Mercury exposure has been associated with a wide variety of negative reproductive responses in birds, however few studies have examined the potential for chick impairment via the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The HPA axis regulates corticosterone levels during periods of stress. We examined the relationship between baseline fecal corticosterone metabolite concentrations and mercury concentrations in down feathers of recently hatched (<3 days) and blood of older (15-37 days) Forster's tern (Sterna forsteri) chicks in San Francisco Bay, California. Baseline fecal corticosterone metabolite concentrations were negatively correlated with mercury concentrations in blood of older chicks (decreasing by 81% across the range of observed mercury concentrations) while accounting for positive correlations between corticosterone concentrations and number of fledgling chicks within the colony and chick age. In recently hatched chicks, baseline fecal corticosterone metabolite concentrations were weakly negatively correlated with mercury concentrations in down feathers (decreasing by 45% across the range of observed mercury concentrations) while accounting for stronger positive correlations between corticosterone concentrations and colony nest abundance and date. These results indicate that chronic mercury exposure may suppress baseline corticosterone concentrations in tern chicks and suggests that a juvenile bird's ability to respond to stress may be reduced via the downregulation of the HPA axis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Garth Herring
- U.S. Geological Survey, Davis Field Station, Western Ecological Research Center, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California 95616, United States.
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Verboven N, Verreault J, Letcher RJ, Gabrielsen GW, Evans NP. Adrenocortical function of Arctic-breeding glaucous gulls in relation to persistent organic pollutants. Gen Comp Endocrinol 2010; 166:25-32. [PMID: 19932109 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2009.11.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2009] [Revised: 06/27/2009] [Accepted: 11/17/2009] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Unpredictable changes in the environment stimulate the avian hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis to produce corticosterone, which induces behavioural and metabolic changes that enhance survival in the face of adverse environmental conditions. In addition to profound environmental perturbations, such as severe weather conditions and unpredictable food shortages, many Arctic-breeding birds are also confronted with chronic exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs), some of which are known to disrupt endocrine processes. This study investigated the adrenocortical function of a top predator in the Arctic marine environment, the glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus). High concentrations of organochlorines, brominated flame retardants and metabolically-derived products in blood plasma of incubating glaucous gulls were associated with high baseline corticosterone concentrations in both sexes and a reduced stress response in males. Contaminant-related changes in corticosterone concentration occurred over and above differences in body condition and seasonal variation. Chronically high corticosterone concentrations and/or a compromised adrenocortical response to stress can have negative effects on the health of an individual. The results of the present study suggest that exposure to POPs may increase the vulnerability of glaucous gulls to environmental stressors and thus could potentially compromise their ability to adapt to the rapidly changing environmental conditions associated with climate change that are currently seen in the Arctic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nanette Verboven
- Division of Cell Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, 464 Bearsden Road, Glasgow G61 1QH, Scotland, UK
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Franceschini MD, Lane OP, Evers DC, Reed JM, Hoskins B, Romero LM. The corticosterone stress response and mercury contamination in free-living tree swallows, Tachycineta bicolor. ECOTOXICOLOGY (LONDON, ENGLAND) 2009; 18:514-521. [PMID: 19360470 DOI: 10.1007/s10646-009-0309-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2008] [Accepted: 03/24/2009] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
We determined mercury concentrations in tree swallows, Tachycineta bicolor, from Massachusetts and Maine with different levels of contamination. Baseline and stress-induced plasma corticosterone concentrations from adults and nestlings (Massachusetts only) were compared with mercury concentrations. In Massachusetts, adult baseline corticosterone was negatively correlated with blood mercury, but showed a nearly-significant positive correlation with feather mercury. There was a negative relationship between baseline corticosterone and blood mercury in nestlings and between baseline corticosterone and egg mercury. There was no relationship between mercury and stress-induced corticosterone in any of the groups, or with baseline corticosterone in Maine sites where mercury levels were lower. The findings suggest blood and egg mercury may be a better indicator of current condition than feather mercury. Further, mercury contamination may not alter stress-induced corticosterone concentrations in tree swallows but appears to have a significant impact on baseline circulating corticosterone.
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Spencer KA, Verhulst S. Post-natal exposure to corticosterone affects standard metabolic rate in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). Gen Comp Endocrinol 2008; 159:250-6. [PMID: 18854187 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2008.09.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2007] [Revised: 08/27/2008] [Accepted: 09/16/2008] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Post-natal stress has been shown to have important short and long term effects on many adult traits in birds. During stress, metabolic alterations often result in the mobilization of energy away from energy-sensitive functions such as growth, which could have significant implications for developing animals. However, little is known about the implications of stress hormones for energy consumption in growing individuals. We experimentally increased corticosterone (CORT) levels in nestling zebra finches via oral administration, between the ages of 7 and 18 days. The standard metabolic rate (SMR) of birds was measured twice overnight when birds were between 11-13 and 55-65 days of age. Developmental CORT administration significantly elevated overnight variability in SMR (sd) in nestling birds (during the treatment period), but not at 55-65 days (5-6 weeks after the treatment period). The effect on variability was seen more prominently in birds from larger brood sizes and in females. We found no effects of our treatments on mean SMR overnight. However, brood size and sex had interactive effects, with males from larger brood sizes having higher SMR at 55-65 days of age. These results suggest that stress hormones can have significant effects on energy metabolism and possibly nocturnal arousal and sleep fragmentation. However, there were no detectable long term effects of our treatments on SMR, suggesting that these effects are only short-lived, in order to maintain homeostasis in the short term.
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Affiliation(s)
- K A Spencer
- Division of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, Graham Kerr Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK.
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de Matos R. Adrenal steroid metabolism in birds: anatomy, physiology, and clinical considerations. Vet Clin North Am Exot Anim Pract 2008; 11:35-vi. [PMID: 18165137 DOI: 10.1016/j.cvex.2007.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
The hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal system in birds is anatomically and functionally different from that in mammals. The adrenal gland structure and corticosteroid hormone physiology of birds will be reviewed. The anatomy and physiology sections of this article will be important for better understanding the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and possible treatment of primary or secondary adrenal gland disease. Causes of hyper- and hypoadrenocorticism in birds also will be reviewed. The article will conclude with current indications and complications to the clinical use of glucocorticoids in birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ricardo de Matos
- Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-6401, USA.
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Spencer KA, Verhulst S. Delayed behavioral effects of postnatal exposure to corticosterone in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). Horm Behav 2007; 51:273-80. [PMID: 17196201 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2006.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 106] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2006] [Revised: 11/05/2006] [Accepted: 11/07/2006] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Early developmental conditions can significantly influence the growth and survival of many animal species. We studied the consequences of exposure to corticosterone (CORT), a stress hormone, during the nestling stage on two behavioral traits (neophobia, social dominance) measured when the birds had reached independence. Nestling zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) were exposed twice daily to exogenous CORT via oral administration for a 12-day period up until fledging. Experimental CORT administration depressed nestling growth rates, confirming results previously obtained in this species. Our data on neophobic behavior revealed a significant interaction between sex and treatment, with CORT-dosed males showing reduced latencies to approach a novel object, while there was little effect of corticosterone treatment on female neophobia. There was no significant effect of age (30 or 50 days), however, there was a non-significant trend towards an interaction between treatment and age, with neophobia increasing with age in the CORT-dosed birds, but decreasing in controls. At 50 days of age previous exposure to corticosterone resulted in reduced success in competitions for a non-food-based resource (a perch) in both sexes. There were no effects of brood size on any behavioral traits measured here, but this may be due to the small range in brood size used. Our results show that elevated levels of stress hormones during postnatal development can have significant effects on important behavioral traits, i.e., neophobia and dominance. Moreover, they confirm the importance of rearing conditions in shaping adult phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- K A Spencer
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZB, UK.
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