Prevalence of Urogenital Carcinoma in Stranded California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) from 2005–15

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 581-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alissa C. Deming ◽  
Kathleen M. Colegrove ◽  
Padraig J. Duignan ◽  
Ailsa J. Hall ◽  
James F. X. Wellehan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Zalophus Californianus ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Urogenital Carcinoma

scholarly journals Persistent Contaminants and Herpesvirus OtHV1 Are Positively Associated With Cancer in Wild California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus)

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances M. D. Gulland ◽  
Ailsa J. Hall ◽  
Gina M. Ylitalo ◽  
Kathleen M. Colegrove ◽  
Tenaya Norris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Zalophus Californianus ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Sea Lion ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
Contaminant Exposure ◽  
Control Approach ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Cancer Occurrence ◽  
Urogenital Carcinoma

The prevalence of cancer in wild California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) is one of the highest amongst mammals, with 18–23% of adult animals examined post-mortem over the past 40 years having urogenital carcinoma. To date, organochlorines, genotype and infection with Otarine herpesvirus-1 (OtHV-1) have been identified in separate studies using distinct animals as associated with this carcinoma. Multi-year studies using large sample sizes to investigate the relative importance of multiple factors on marine mammal health are rare due to logistical and ethical challenges. The objective of this study was to use a case control approach with samples from 394 animals collected over 20 years in a multifactorial analysis to explore the relative importance of distinct factors identified to date as associated with sea lion cancer in the likelihood of sea lion carcinoma. Stepwise regression indicated that the best model to explain carcinoma occurrence included herpesvirus status, contaminant exposure, and blubber depth, but not genotype at a single microsatellite locus, PV11. The odds of carcinoma was 43.57 times higher in sea lions infected with OtHV-1 (95% CI 14.61, 129.96, p < 0.001), and 1.48 times higher for every unit increase in the loge[contaminant concentrations], ng g–1 (an approximate tripling of concentration), in their blubber (95% CI 1.11, 1.97, p < 0.007), after controlling for the effect of blubber depth. These findings demonstrate the importance of contaminant exposure combined with OtHV1 infection, in the potential for cancer occurrence in wild sea lions.

scholarly journals No evidence for clonal transmission of urogenital carcinoma in California sea lions (Zalophus californianus)

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Máire Ní Leathlobhair ◽  
Frances M.D. Gulland ◽  
Elizabeth P. Murchison
Keyword(s):  
Metastatic Cancer ◽  
Infectious Agent ◽  
Host Cells ◽  
Zalophus Californianus ◽  
Causative Role ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
Herpesvirus Type ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Urogenital Carcinoma

Urogenital carcinoma is a highly metastatic cancer affecting California sea lions (Zalophus californianus). The disease has high prevalence amongst stranded animals, and is one of the most commonly observed cancers in wildlife. The genital localisation of primary tumours suggests the possibility that coital transmission of an infectious agent could underlie this disease. Otarine herpesvirus type 1 has been associated with lesions, however a causative role for this virus has not been confirmed. We investigated the possibility that urogenital carcinoma might be clonally transmissible, spread by the direct transfer of cancer cells. Analysis of sequences at the mitochondrial DNA control region in seven matched tumour and host pairs confirmed that tumour genotypes were identical to those of their matched hosts and did not show similarity with tumours from other individuals. Thus our findings suggest that urogenital carcinoma in California sea lions is not clonally transmitted, but rather arises from transformed host cells.

Otarine herpesvirus-1: a novel gammaherpesvirus associated with urogenital carcinoma in California sea lions (Zalophus californianus)

2002 ◽  
Vol 86 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 131-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald P King ◽  
Michelle C Hure ◽  
Tracey Goldstein ◽  
Brian M Aldridge ◽  
Frances M.D Gulland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Zalophus Californianus ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Herpesvirus 1 ◽  
Urogenital Carcinoma

scholarly journals Common cancer in a wild animal: the California sea lion ( Zalophus californianus ) as an emerging model for carcinogenesis

2015 ◽  
Vol 370 (1673) ◽  
pp. 20140228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen M. Browning ◽  
Frances M. D. Gulland ◽  
John A. Hammond ◽  
Kathleen M. Colegrove ◽  
Ailsa J. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Wild Animal ◽  
Zalophus Californianus ◽  
Sea Lion ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
California Sea Lion ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Urogenital Carcinoma

Naturally occurring cancers in non-laboratory species have great potential in helping to decipher the often complex causes of neoplasia. Wild animal models could add substantially to our understanding of carcinogenesis, particularly of genetic and environmental interactions, but they are currently underutilized. Studying neoplasia in wild animals is difficult and especially challenging in marine mammals owing to their inaccessibility, lack of exposure history, and ethical, logistical and legal limits on experimentation. Despite this, California sea lions ( Zalophus californianus ) offer an opportunity to investigate risk factors for neoplasia development that have implications for terrestrial mammals and humans who share much of their environment and diet. A relatively accessible California sea lion population on the west coast of the USA has a high prevalence of urogenital carcinoma and is regularly sampled during veterinary care in wildlife rehabilitation centres. Collaborative studies have revealed that genotype, persistent organic pollutants and a herpesvirus are all associated with this cancer. This paper reviews research to date on the epidemiology and pathogenesis of urogenital carcinoma in this species, and presents the California sea lion as an important and currently underexploited wild animal model of carcinogenesis.

New polymorphic microsatellite markers for California sea lions (Zalophus californianus)

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 140-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. D. HERNANDEZ-VELAZQUEZ ◽  
C. E. GALINDO-SANCHEZ ◽  
M. I. TAYLOR ◽  
J. DE LA ROSA-VELEZ ◽  
I. M. COTE ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microsatellite Markers ◽  
Zalophus Californianus ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Polymorphic Microsatellite

Quantifying errors associated with using fecal samples to determine the diet of the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus)

2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (6) ◽  
pp. 1080-1087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony J Orr ◽  
James T Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Zalophus Californianus ◽  
Correction Factors ◽  
Sea Lion ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
California Sea Lion ◽  
Fecal Samples ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Mesh Bag ◽  
Estimate Number ◽  
Fish Otoliths

The purpose of this study was to quantify the errors associated with using fecal samples to determine the diet of the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus). Fishes and squids of known size and number were fed to five sea lions held in enclosures with seawater-filled pools. Enclosures were washed and pools were drained periodically so that sea lion feces could be collected using a 0.5 mm mesh bag. Fish otoliths and squid beaks were collected from feces and used to estimate number and size of prey eaten. An average of 50.7% (SE = 6.4%) of 430 fishes and 73.5% (SE = 12.0%) of 49 cephalopods fed to sea lions were represented by otoliths and beaks in feces, respectively. Estimated lengths of fish from feces were less than lengths of fish fed to sea lions by an average of 30.1% (SE = 2.8%). Beaks were not digested significantly; estimated lengths of squid were underestimated by an average of only 3.3% (SE = 1.5%) relative to actual lengths. Passage rates of otoliths varied, but more than 70% were recovered within 48 h after the fish was consumed. Passage rates of beaks were generally less than those of otoliths; six beaks (11%) were collected in feces 4 days after the squid were eaten. Correction factors were created to more reliably estimate the number and size of fishes and cephalopods eaten by California sea lions.

scholarly journals Isolation of a novel adenovirus from California sea lions Zalophus californianus

2011 ◽  
Vol 94 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Goldstein ◽  
KM Colegrove ◽  
M Hanson ◽  
FMD Gulland
Keyword(s):  
Zalophus Californianus ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
Sea Lions

scholarly journals Evidence for a genetic basis of urogenital carcinoma in the wild California sea lion

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1796) ◽  
pp. 20140240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen M. Browning ◽  
Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse ◽  
Frances M. D. Gulland ◽  
Ailsa J. Hall ◽  
Jeanie Finlayson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
California Sea Lions ◽  
California Sea Lion ◽  
Gene Encoding ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Wildlife Species ◽  
Large Gene ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Urogenital Carcinoma ◽  
Control Study ◽  
Individual Locus

Although neoplasia is a major cause of mortality in humans and domestic animals, it has rarely been described in wildlife species. One of the few examples is a highly prevalent urogenital carcinoma in California sea lions (CSLs). Although the aetiology of this carcinoma is clearly multifactorial, inbreeding depression, as estimated using levels of microsatellite multilocus heterozygosity, is identified as predictive for this neoplasia. On further analysis, this relationship appears to be largely driven by one marker, suggesting that a single locus might be associated with the occurrence of this disease in CSLs. In a case–control study, carcinoma was significantly associated with homozygosity at the Pv11 microsatellite locus. Pv11 was mapped to intron 9 of the heparanase 2 gene ( HPSE2 ) locus, a very large gene encoding heparanase 2, which in humans is associated with multiple carcinomas. Correspondingly, immunohistochemical labelling in tissues was present in carcinoma cases within a single homozygous Pv11 genotype. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an individual locus being associated with cancer in any wildlife species. This adds emphasis to the study of HPSE2 in other species, including humans and will guide future studies on this sentinel species that shares much of its diet and environment with humans

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