scholarly journals Sublethal effects on seabirds after the Prestige oil-spill are mirrored in sexual signals

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristobal Pérez ◽  
Ignacio Munilla ◽  
Marta López-Alonso ◽  
Alberto Velando

It has been suggested that sexual signals may be a useful measure of environmental quality as they represent the sum of environmental pressures on the animal. Accordingly, it has been proposed that carotenoid-based coloration may be especially valuable in monitoring and detecting the sublethal effects of toxic pollutants in the environment. Here, we evaluate whether the carotenoid-based coloration in the bill of adult yellow-legged gulls reflects oil-induced sublethal effects in breeding colonies affected by the Prestige oil spill. In 2004, we took blood samples from 27 adult birds at four insular breeding colonies located in the pathway of the Prestige oil spill. We measured the size of the red bill spot area and analysed plasma biochemical parameters indicative of sublethal effects of oil contamination in gulls, including glucose, total protein, creatinine, inorganic phosphorus, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and gamma-glutamyl transferase. We showed that the size of their red bill spot area was positively related to body condition, while negatively related with AST levels, an enzyme that is commonly used as an indication of hepatic damage in birds. Hence, the present study provides support for the idea that carotenoid-based colour integuments may be a useful measure of environmental quality.

2008 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 509-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura G. Peteiro ◽  
Ramón Filgueira ◽  
Uxío Labarta ◽  
María José Fernández-Reiriz

Abstract Peteiro, L. G., Filgueira, R., Labarta, U., and Fernández-Reiriz, M. J. 2008. Growth and biochemical responses of the offspring of mussels directly affected by the “Prestige” oil spill. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 509–513. We investigated whether perturbations to growth and biochemistry, detected in Mytilus galloprovincialis mussel seed cultured after the “Prestige” oil spill (2003), were evident in its offspring (2004). Sublethal effects in the 2003 mussels or, alternatively, direct exposure to remobilization of fuel on the seabed, might have detrimental effects on mussel juveniles in 2004. However, the absence of differences in lipid composition and growth performance between mussel seed gathered from the area most affected by the spill (Pindo) and the reference population (Miranda) seems to indicate the absence of sublethal effects related to hydrocarbon exposure in the offspring of mussels directly exposed to the “Prestige” oil spill.


2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoit Brilland ◽  
Johnny Sayegh ◽  
Anne Croue ◽  
Frank Bridoux ◽  
Jean-François Subra ◽  
...  

Light chain deposition disease (LCDD) is a rare multisystemic disorder associated with plasma cell proliferation. It mainly affects the kidney, but liver and heart involvement may occur, sometimes mimicking the picture of systemic amyloidosis. Liver disease in LCDD is usually asymptomatic and exceptionally manifests with severe cholestatic hepatitis. We report the case of a 66-year-old female with κ-LCDD and cast nephropathy in the setting of symptomatic multiple myeloma who, after a first cycle of bortezomib-dexamethasone chemotherapy, developed severe and rapidly worsening intrahepatic cholestasis secondary to liver κ-light chain deposition. Intrahepatic cholestasis was attributed to LCDD on the basis of the liver histology and exclusion of possible diagnoses. Chemotherapy was maintained and resulted in progressive resolution of cholestasis. We report here an uncommon presentation of LCDD, with prominent liver involvement that fully recovered with bortezomib-based chemotherapy, and briefly review the relevant literature. Abbreviations: AKI: Acute kidney injury; ALP: alkaline phosphatase; ALT: alanine aminotransferase; AST: aspartate aminotransferase; CMV: Cytomegalovirus; EBV: Epstein–Barr virus; GGT: gamma-glutamyl transferase; HSV: Herpes simplex virus; LC: light chain; LCDD: Light chain deposition disease; MIDD: Monoclonal immunoglobulin deposition disease; MM: Multiple myeloma.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 121-124
Author(s):  
Ahmed El-Sayed

Objective: To assess the potential hematobiochemical alterations in healthy dromedary camel during the different stages of lactation. Design: Randomized controlled study. Animals: Fifteen healthy female dromedary camels, with mean body weight of 499.6 kg and mean age of 20 years. Procedures: Camels were categorized into 3 groups' according to their stage of lactation: group 1, early lactation (1-3 months), group 2, mid-lactation (four-6 months) and group3, late lactation (≥ 7 months). Blood samples were collected from every animals for hematological and biochemical evaluation. Results: Total erythrocyte count (TEC), hemoglobin (Hb), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), total leukocytes (TLC), lymphocytes, neutrophils, monocytes, Calcium, glucose, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) confirmed significant (p < 0.05) variation between different stages of lactation. However, non-notable (p > 0.05) dissimilarity were located in packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), in organic phosphorus (P), magnesium (Mg), cholesterol, total protein (TP), albumen, globulin, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine kinase (CK) in the course of different ranges of lactation, Conclusion and clinical relevance: The results of this investigation may be useful as reference guide for dromedary camel to evaluate the metabolic health status at different stages of lactation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 529-533
Author(s):  
Mihaela Pantea ◽  
Diana Andreea Ighigeanu ◽  
Alexandra Totan ◽  
Maria Greabu ◽  
Daniela Miricescu ◽  
...  

This in vitro study analyses the biochemical interaction between saliva and three types of dental composite resins (a direct resin, an indirect resin and a dual-cure resin used for cementation of indirect dental restorations). The resin samples were obtained following a specific protocol and in line with the producers� recommendations; the resin samples were incubated with saliva samples collected from 19 healthy volunteers. The obtained results showed that the tested composite resins did not produce significant changes in oxidative stress parameters that were analysed (albumin, uric acid, GGT / gamma glutamyl transferase, OXSR-1 / oxidative stress responsive kinase 1) and do not influence the inflammatory salivary status reflected by the levels of IL-6 - an inflammatory marker.


2005 ◽  
Vol 146 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Velando ◽  
David �lvarez ◽  
Jorge Mouri�o ◽  
Francisco Arcos ◽  
�lvaro Barros

2021 ◽  
pp. jclinpath-2021-207446
Author(s):  
David R Taylor ◽  
Devon Buchanan ◽  
Wiaam Al-Hasani ◽  
Jessica Kearney ◽  
Tina Mazaheri ◽  
...  

AimsPublic Health England has identified that in COVID-19, death rates among ethnic minorities far exceeds that of the white population. While the increase in ethnic minorities is likely to be multifactorial, to date, no studies have looked to see whether values for routine clinical biochemistry parameters differ between ethnic minority and white individuals.MethodsBaseline biochemical data for 22 common tests from 311 SARS-CoV-2 positive patients presenting to hospital in April 2020 in whom ethnicity data were available was retrospectively collected and evaluated. Data comparisons between ethnic minority and white groups were made for all patient data and for the subset of patients subsequently admitted to intensive care.ResultsWhen all patient data were considered, the ethnic minority population had statistically significant higher concentrations of C reactive protein (CRP), aspartate aminotransferase and gamma-glutamyl transferase, while troponin T was higher in the white group. A greater proportion of ethnic minority patients were subsequently admitted to intensive care, but when the presenting biochemistry of this subset of patients was compared, no significant differences were observed between ethnic minority and white groups.ConclusionOur data show for the first time that routine biochemistry at hospital presentation in COVID-19 differs between ethnic minority and white groups. Among the markers identified, CRP was significantly higher in the ethnic minority group pointing towards an increased tendency for severe inflammation in this group.


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manal G. Mahmoud ◽  
Mohsen S. Asker ◽  
Mohamed E. El Awady ◽  
Amal I. Hassan ◽  
Nadia A. R. Zaharan ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Nanomedicine contributes to the efficiency of pharmacological treatments and progresses rapidly. The present study was designed to produce exopolysaccharide (BSEPS) from Bacillus subtilis sp. strain reported in our previous study was further characterized, and its BSEPS for synthesis of the nanoparticle Ag-BSEPS using microwave heating to determine the possible effects of a prepared solution containing Ag-BSEPS versus thioacetamide (TAA) evoked liver fibrosis in Wister albino rats. Nanoparticles with silver (Ag) core have been synthesized in an aqueous solution after exposure of BSEPS to periodate oxidation. Animals were split into four groups: I - control rats, water ad libitum for 6 weeks; II - rats were injected with TAA 200 mg/kg-1 3 times/week for 4 weeks IP; III - Ag-BSEPS 100 mg/kg-1 IP twice a week for 6 weeks; and IV - TAA, as group II followed by Ag-BSEPS as group III. The antifibrotic effects of Ag-BSEPS were appraised by determining different hepatotoxicity indices, oxidative stress, and inflammatory and liver fibrosis markers. Results Nanoparticles were obtained with a diameter size range of 50–100 nm characterized by SEM and TEM without using any harmful reagents. Results evinced considerably reduced activity of liver functions such as transaminases (AST, ALT), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in the group which received TAA followed by Ag-BSEPS compared to the other group which received only TAA. In the current results, the administration of Ag-BSEPS showed an improvement in the proinflammatory cytokines. On the contrary, the antioxidant enzymes in liver homogenates revealed significant improvement (concentration of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) increases) in animals with TAA-induced liver damage followed by Ag-BSEPS. Moreover, the activities of the fibrotic markers transforming growth factor-beta 1(TGF-β1) and type III pro-collagen (PCIII) were increased in liver tissues in the group which was given TAA alone as compared to the controls. The percentage of fibrosis of hepatic tissue had a positive correlation with the levels of PCIII and TGF-β1, followed by Ag-BSEPS compared to the TAA group without nanocomposite treatment. Microscopic examinations revealed inhibitory effects of Ag-BSEPS on inflammatory changes and deterrent of liver fibrosis. Conclusion It was suggested that the biochemical and histological amelioration observed in Ag-BSEPS (100 mg/kg-1 twice a week for 6 weeks) treated the fibrotic rats.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanxia Gao ◽  
Liwen Liu ◽  
Tiegang Li ◽  
Ding Yuan ◽  
Yibo Wang ◽  
...  

AbstractTo identify risk factors and develop a simple model to predict early prognosis of acute paraquat (PQ) poisoning patients, we performed a retrospective cohort study of acute PQ poisoning patients (n = 1199). Patients (n = 913) with PQ poisoning from 2011 to 2018 were randomly divided into training (n = 609) and test (n = 304) samples. Another two independent cohorts were used as validation samples for a different time (n = 207) and site (n = 79). Risk factors were identified using a logistic model with Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation and further evaluated using a latent class analysis. The prediction score was developed based on the training sample and was evaluated using the testing and validation samples. Eight factors, including age, ingestion volume, creatine kinase-MB [CK-MB], platelet [PLT], white blood cell [WBC], neutrophil counts [N], gamma-glutamyl transferase [GGT], and serum creatinine [Cr] were identified as independent risk indicators of in-hospital death events. The risk model had C statistics of 0.895 (95% CI 0.855–0.928), 0.891 (95% CI 0.848–0.932), and 0.829 (95% CI 0.455–1.000), and predictive ranges of 4.6–98.2%, 2.3–94.9%, and 0–12.5% for the test, validation_time, and validation_site samples, respectively. In the training sample, the risk model classified 18.4%, 59.9%, and 21.7% of patients into the high-, average-, and low-risk groups, with corresponding probabilities of 0.985, 0.365, and 0.03 for in-hospital death events. We developed and evaluated a simple risk model to predict the prognosis of patients with acute PQ poisoning. This risk scoring system could be helpful for identifying high-risk patients and reducing mortality due to PQ poisoning.


2021 ◽  
pp. 104063872110258
Author(s):  
Eve M. Manthorpe ◽  
Ian V. Jerrett ◽  
Grant T. Rawlin ◽  
Lucy Woolford

Acute bovine liver disease (ABLD) is a sporadic hepatic disease affecting cattle in southern Australia, characterized histologically by striking periportal hepatocellular necrosis. The cause of ABLD is unknown; however, the seasonality and acute presentation of outbreaks suggest mycotoxin involvement. We describe here the clinical and pathologic findings of ABLD in 45 naturally affected cattle from 13 outbreaks occurring from 2010 to 2019 in Victoria, Australia. Outbreaks occurred in herds located along the southern coastal plain of Victoria and were observed most frequently in lactating dairy cattle. Clinical signs commonly included a combination of mild photosensitization, progressive neurologic signs, and hypogalactia, which preceded death by ≤ 48 h. All affected animals had marked elevations in activities of glutamate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase, and gamma-glutamyl transferase. At autopsy, the most common lesions were serosal petechiae and/or gastrointestinal hemorrhage, and hepatomegaly with a pronounced hepatic reticular pattern. The principal histologic lesion was widespread—severe periportal hepatocellular coagulative necrosis and erythrocyte pooling—which often extended to massive necrosis. Lesions in other organs were uncommon. Our study of ABLD suggests involvement of a potent hepatotoxin that is either directly cytopathic or requires bioactivation by periportal-specific enzymes.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S311-S311
Author(s):  
F. Pavez Reyes ◽  
M. Sánchez ◽  
E. Moral ◽  
M. Terradillos ◽  
N. López ◽  
...  

Chronic use of alcohol is a known cause of cerebellar atrophy. This finding could be a valuable diagnosis support when there are not other information sources. In this case report, we describe a 65-year-old male patient who was referred from primary care to specialized consultation because a depressive syndrome it was unresponsive to treatment with desvenlafaxine and lorazepam. In psychopathological exploration we found overvalued ideas of suffering some kind of injury and damage by the family, which oriented the diagnostic hypothesis of delusional disorder with secondary mood symptoms, although the clinical suspicion of abuse of alcohol was proposed as a differential diagnosis. The continuing minimization and denial of consumption by the patient as well as their reluctance to incorporate an external informant made that the workup was a key element to elucidate the diagnosis. We found a discrete increase in transaminases, gamma glutamyl transferase and alkaline phosphatase. Magnetic resonance imaging showed cerebellar atrophy (vermian and, in a lesser extent, in both hemispheres). Once the patient was confronted with these results, he agreed to disclose his problem, which fulfilled alcohol dependence criteria. After that, he accepted to initiate treatment and detoxification in a specialized unity.ConclusionsAlthough psychiatric diagnosis is based on the clinical features and the exclusion of associated medical conditions, in this case the workup provided support to our clinical suspicion, favouring recognition of the problem and willingness to treatment by the patient.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


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