RESUMO
Injury assessment of birds following the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill in 2010 was part of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment. One reported effect was hemolytic anemia with the presence of Heinz bodies (HB) in birds, however, the role of route and magnitude of exposure to oil is unknown. The purpose of the present study was to determine if double-crested cormorants (Phalacocorax auritis; DCCO) exposed orally and dermally to artificially weathered crude oil would develop hemolytic anemia including HB and reticulocytosis. In the oral experiment, sub-adult, mixed-sex DCCOs were fed control (n = 8) or oil-injected fish with a daily target dose of 5 (n = 9) or 10 (n = 9) ml oil/kg for 21 days. Then, subadult control (n = 12) and treated (n = 13) cormorant groups of similar sex-ratio were dermally treated with approximately 13ml of water or weathered MC252 crude oil, respectively, every 3 days for 6 dosages approximating 20% surface coverage. Collected whole blood samples were analyzed by light (new methylene blue) and transmission electron microscopy. Both oral and dermal treatment with weathered DWH MC252 crude oil induced regenerative, but inadequately compensated, anemia due to hemolysis and hematochezia as indicated by decreased packed cell volume, relative increase in reticulocytes with lack of difference in corrected reticulocyte count, and morphologic evidence of oxidant damage at the ultrastructural level. Hemoglobin precipitation, HB formation, degenerate organelles, and systemic oxidant damage were documented. Heinz bodies were typically <2µm in length and smaller than in mammals. These oblong cytoplasmic inclusions were difficult to see upon routine blood smear evaluation and lacked the classic button appearance found in mammalian red blood cells. They could be found as light, homogeneous blue inclusions upon new methylene blue staining. Ultrastructurally, HB appeared as homogeneous, electron-dense structures within the cytosol and lacked membranous structure. Oxidant damage in avian red blood cells results in degenerate organelles and precipitated hemoglobin or HB with different morphology than that found in mammalian red blood cells. Ultrastructural evaluation is needed to definitively identify HB and damaged organelles to confirm oxidant damage. The best field technique based on the data in this study is assessment of PCV with storage of blood in glutaraldehyde for possible TEM analysis.
Assuntos
Anemia/induzido quimicamente , Aves/sangue , Corpos de Heinz/efeitos dos fármacos , Corpos de Heinz/ultraestrutura , Petróleo/toxicidade , Poluentes Químicos da Água/toxicidade , Administração Cutânea , Administração Oral , Anemia/sangue , Animais , Contagem de Eritrócitos , Células Eritroides/efeitos dos fármacos , Células Eritroides/ultraestrutura , Feminino , Masculino , Poluição por Petróleo , Testes de Toxicidade , Poluentes Químicos da Água/química , Tempo (Meteorologia)RESUMO
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill released 134 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico making it the largest oil spill in US history and exposing fish, birds, and marine mammals throughout the Gulf of Mexico to its toxicity. Fish eating waterbirds such as the double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) were exposed to the oil both by direct contact with the oil and orally through preening and the ingestion of contaminated fish. This study investigated the effects of orally ingestedMC252 oil-contaminated live fish food by double-crested cormorants on oxidative stress. Total, reduced, and oxidized glutathione levels, superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities, total antioxidant capacity and lipid peroxidation were assessed in the liver tissues of control and treated cormorants. The results suggest that ingestion of the oil-contaminated fish resulted in significant increase in oxidative stress in the liver tissues of these birds. The oil-induced increase in oxidative stress could have detrimental impacts on the bird's life-history.
Assuntos
Aves/metabolismo , Peixes , Contaminação de Alimentos , Estresse Oxidativo/efeitos dos fármacos , Petróleo/toxicidade , Poluentes Químicos da Água/toxicidade , Administração Oral , Animais , Ingestão de Alimentos , Alimentos , Golfo do México , Poluição por PetróleoRESUMO
The external contamination of bird feathers with crude oil might have effects on feather structure and thus on thermoregulation. We tested the thermoregulatory ability of western sandpipers (Calidris mauri) in a respirometry chamber with oil applied either immediately prior, or three days before the experiment. The birds were then exposed to a sliding cold temperature challenge between 27°C and -3°C to calculate thermal conductance. After the experiment, a large blood sample was taken and the liver extracted to measure a range of parameters linked to toxicology and oxidative stress. No differences in thermal conductance were observed among groups, but birds exposed to oil for three days had reduced body temperatures and lost more body mass during that period. At necropsy, oiled birds showed a decrease in plasma albumin and sodium, and an increase in urea. This is reflective of dysfunction in the kidney at the loop of Henle. Birds, especially when exposed to the oil for three days, showed signs of oxidative stress and oxidative damage. These results show that the ingestion of externally applied oil through preening or drinking can cause toxic effects even in low doses, while we did not detect a direct effect of the external oil on thermoregulation over the temperature range tested.
Assuntos
Regulação da Temperatura Corporal/efeitos dos fármacos , Charadriiformes/fisiologia , Plumas/química , Estresse Oxidativo/efeitos dos fármacos , Petróleo/toxicidade , Poluentes Químicos da Água/toxicidade , Administração Cutânea , Animais , Peso Corporal/efeitos dos fármacos , Charadriiformes/sangue , Metabolismo Energético/efeitos dos fármacos , Fígado/efeitos dos fármacos , Fígado/metabolismo , Poluição por Petróleo/efeitos adversos , Testes de Toxicidade , Tempo (Meteorologia)RESUMO
Shorebirds were among birds exposed to Mississippi Canyon 252 (MC252) crude oil during the 2010 Deep Water Horizon (DWH) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The western sandpiper (Calidris mauri) was chosen as one of four species for initial oral dosing studies conducted under Phase 2 of the avian toxicity studies for the DWH Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA). Thirty western sandpipers were assigned to one of three treatment groups, 10 birds per group. The control group was sham gavaged and the treatment groups were gavaged with 1 or 5mL oil kg bw-1 daily for 20 days. Periodic blood samples for hemoglobin measurements were collected during the trial. A final blood sample used to determine hemoglobin concentration in addition to complete blood counts, plasma clinical chemistries, haptoglobin concentration and plasma electrophoresis was collected when birds were euthanized and necropsied on day 21. Tissues were removed, weighed and processed for subsequent histopathological evaluation. There were numerical decreases in hemoglobin concentrations in oil-dosed birds over the 21-day trial, but values were not significantly different compared to controls on day 21. There were no significant differences between controls and oiled birds in complete blood counts, plasma chemistries, haptoglobin concentration, and plasma electrophoresis endpoints. Of the hepatic oxidative stress endpoints assessed, the total antioxidant capacity assessment (Trolox equivalents) for the control group was lower compared to the 1mL oil kg bw-1 group. Absolute liver weights in the 5mL oil kg bw-1 group were significantly greater compared to controls. While not conclusive, the numerical decrease in hemoglobin concentration and significant increase in absolute liver weight are consistent with exposure to oil. Histological changes in the adrenal gland could be considered a non-specific indicator of stress resulting from exposure to oil. It is possible that the quantity of oil absorbed was not sufficient to induce clearly evident hemolytic anemia or that the western sandpiper is relatively insensitive to ingested oil.
Assuntos
Antioxidantes/metabolismo , Charadriiformes/sangue , Fígado/efeitos dos fármacos , Petróleo/toxicidade , Poluentes Químicos da Água/toxicidade , Administração Oral , Animais , Análise Química do Sangue , Charadriiformes/metabolismo , Golfo do México , Fígado/enzimologia , Fígado/patologia , Tamanho do Órgão/efeitos dos fármacos , Poluição por Petróleo/efeitos adversos , Testes de Toxicidade , Poluentes Químicos da Água/química , Tempo (Meteorologia)RESUMO
TCDD was assessed as a biological response modifier for increasing MMC cytotoxicity through aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) activation and increasing levels of bioreductive enzymes. Human MCF-7 cells were exposed to TCDD, MMC and combinations thereof under aerobic or hypoxic conditions. Cytotoxicity, enzyme activities (NQO1, XO, XDH, CYPR, CYP1A, GST and UGT) and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were subsequently measured. Under aerobic conditions, TCDD alone had no significant toxicity but combinations of TCDD and MMC significantly increased cell death. LD50 values were: MMC alone, 0.89 +/- 0.04 microM; TCDD co-treatment, 0.26 +/- 0.007 microM (P = 0.008 vs. MMC alone) and TCDD pre-treatment, 0.04 +/- 0.01 microM (P = 0.003 vs. MMC alone). Under hypoxia, TCDD itself caused significant cell death, likely due to increased ROS, but no combinations of MMC/TCDD altered the LD50 of MMC. Significant changes in enzyme activities were caused by TCDD under aerobic but not hypoxic conditions while MMC decreased the activity of its activating enzymes regardless of oxygen tension. Greater toxicity of MMC/TCDD combinations in aerobic culture, were most likely mediated by increased levels of bioreductive enzymes caused through AhR activation. Data presented herein also demonstrate that low oxygen tension decreases AhR activation and signaling and increases the inherent toxicity of TCDD.