Physiological effects of PFAS exposure in seabird chicks: A multi-species study of thyroid hormone triiodothyronine, body condition and telomere length in South Western France.

There is growing evidence that poly and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure leads to the disruption of thyroid hormones including thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), and may affect telomeres, repetitive nucleotide sequences which protect chromosome ends. Many seabird species are long-lived top predators thus exhibit high contaminant levels, and PFAS-disrupting effects on their physiology have been documented especially in relation to the endocrine system in adults. On the contrary, studies on the developmental period (i.e., chicks), during which exposure to environmental contaminants may have a greater impact on physiological traits, remain scarce to this date. We carried out a multi-species study with the aim to assess whether and to which extent chicks of four gull species (herring gull, great and lesser black-backed gull, yellow-legged gull) in South Western France are contaminated by PFAS, and to bring further evidence about their potential physiological consequences. Linear PFOS showed concentrations of concern as it was generally >10 times higher than the other PFAS, and exceeded a threshold toxicity level (calculated from previous studies in birds) in almost all sampled chicks. Nonetheless, in herring gull male chicks, total T3 levels were significantly and negatively associated with perfluorodecanoate (PFDA) and perfluorododecanoate (PFDoDA) and positively associated with perfluorotetradecanoate (PFTeDA) in female chicks. Total T3 levels were also positively associated with PFDoDA in great black backed gull male chicks and with perfluorotridecanoate (PFTrDA) in lesser black backed gull chicks. In lesser and great black-backed gulls, both females and males showed significant negative associations between several PFAS and their body condition, and a positive association between telomere length and L-PFOS in the yellow-legged gull was also found. These results corroborate previous findings and need to be further explored as they suggest that PFAS may interfere with the physiological status of chicks during the developmental period, potentially inducing long-lasting consequences.

Corticosterone: foraging and fattening puppet master in pre-breeding greylag geese.

Reproduction is one of the most energetically costly life history stages, which impose constraints, even outside the breeding period. Capital breeders typically accumulate energy in preparation for reproduction and the amount of body mass gain prior to reproduction partly determines reproductive outcome in such species. Understanding the physiological and behavioral interplay that governs energy storage is thus essential. Pleiotropic hormones such as glucocorticoids can modulate diel and seasonal energy allocation in vertebrates. Baseline corticosterone (CORT, the main glucocorticoid hormone in birds) fluctuation can induce changes in foraging behavior and/or energy storage. In this experiment, we slightly elevated CORT levels and monitored body mass and foraging behavior prior to reproduction in semi-captive greylag geese. Birds treated either with CORT or placebo pellets inserted subcutaneously were monitored during 21 days. Same individuals were sequentially submitted to both treatments. The increase of CORT levels measured in blood samples confirmed the slight CORT elevation in treated birds. Foraging behaviors increased (up to 9%) in the CORT treated group compared to controls only during morning observations. Birds treated with CORT increased their body mass gain by 6.3% compared to controls. This effect lasted during the first 11 days after pellet implementation. We thus confirm the central role of glucocorticoids on foraging behaviors and body mass gain in pre-nesting birds. This study opens new avenues to manipulate body condition in large-bird species.

High levels of fluoroalkyl substances and potential disruption of thyroid hormones in three gull species from South Western France.

Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) raised increasing concerns over the past years due to their persistence and global distribution. Understanding their occurrence in the environment and their disruptive effect on the physiology of humans and wildlife remains a major challenge in ecotoxicological studies. Here, we investigate the occurrence of several carboxylic and sulfonic PFAS in 105 individuals of three seabird species (27 great black-backed gull Larus marinus; 44 lesser black-backed gull Larus fuscus graellsii; and 34 European herring gull Larus argentatus) from South western France. We further estimated the relationship between plasma concentrations of PFAS and i) the body condition of the birds and ii) plasma concentrations of thyroid hormone triiodothyronine (TT3). We found that great and lesser black-backed gulls from South Western France are exposed to PFAS levels comparable to highly contaminated species from other geographical areas, although major emission sources (i.e. related to industrial activities) are absent in the region. We additionally found that PFAS are negatively associated with the body condition of the birds in two of the studied species, and that these results are sex-dependent. Finally, we found positive associations between exposure to PFAS and TT3 in the great black-backed gull, suggesting a potential disrupting mechanism of PFAS exposure. Although only three years of data have been collected, we investigated PFAS trend over the study period, and found that great black-backed gulls document an increasing trend of plasma PFAS concentration from 2016 to 2018. Because PFAS might have detrimental effects on birds, French seabird populations should be monitored since an increase of PFAS exposure may impact on population viability both in the short- and long-term.

Pigmented adrenal hyperplasia with myelolipomatous changes and bilateral testicular enlargement in an untreated man with 21-hydroxylase deficiency.

OBJECTIVE: To report the occurrence of a giant left adrenal tumor and bilateral testicular masses (adenomatous hyperplasia of Leydig cells) in a young man with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency. METHODS: The clinical, radiologic, endocrinologic, and pathologic features of this case are correlated with the findings in the literature. RESULTS: The interesting elements in this case are the rare pathologic features of the left adrenal lesion (pigmented adrenal hyperplasia with myelolipomatous changes) and the association with the infrequent testicular adrenal rest tumors. The absence of enlargement of the right adrenal gland was unexplained. CONCLUSION: The presence of these two rare complications seemed to be associated with poor adherence to medical treatment recommendations for congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

Foot-ankle injuries: influence of crash location, seating position and age.

Foot-ankle injuries have increased in relative importance in recent years. As a basis for future countermeasures, an epidemiology study has been undertaken using Swedish accident data from Folksam Insurance. The database consists of 805 foot-ankle injuries out of 57,949 car occupant injuries reported from 1985 to 1991. The influence of crash location, seating position and occupant age is determined for the frequency, incidence and rate of foot-ankle injury in car crashes. Frontal car crashes produce 76% of the AIS 2-3 foot-ankle injuries with 13% in side impacts and 8% in roll-overs. The rate of AIS 2-3 foot-ankle injury is 24.7 per 1000 occupants injured in all crash locations and is similar irrespective of seating positions. Ankle fractures and sprains both occur at an incidence of 3.7 per 1000 injuries, followed by malleolus fractures at 2.7 and midtarsal fractures at 2.4. The foot-ankle injury incidence and rate are significantly greater (p < 0.01) in near oblique-frontal crashes than for 12 o'clock frontals. For drivers in 11 o'clock and front passengers in 12 o'clock, the incidence is 27.8 per 1000 injuries as compared to 17.5 for drivers and front passengers in 12 o'clock crashes. Occupant age is not as significant as seating position and crash location; however, there are higher incidences for rear occupants > or = 60 years old in oblique frontal crashes. Using the new AAAM Impairment Injury Scale (IIS), 48% of the foot-ankle injuries are rated with residual impairment IIS 1-2. The incidence in near-seated occupants is 1.5 times greater in oblique frontal crashes than in frontals. The incidence for IIS 1-2 impairment in near oblique-frontal crashes is 12.8 per 1000 occupant injuries as compared to 8.3 in frontal crashes.

Biomechanical properties of human cadaveric ankle-subtalar joints in quasi-static loading.

The biomechanical properties of human ankle-subtalar joints have been determined in a quasi-static loading condition. The moving center of rotation was determined and approximated by a fixed point. The moment-angle characteristics of the ankle-subtalar joints about the fixed center of rotation have been measured under four basic movements: dorsiflexion, plantarflexion, inversion, and eversion. The method linearly increases rotation of the calcaneus until failure, and measures the moments, forces, and linear and rotational displacements. Failure was identified as the initial drop of moment on plot showing the moment representing gross injury or microfilament damage. In this study, 32 human ankle-subtalar joints have been tested to failure. The center of rotation of the ankle-subtalar joints was determined for a pure dorsiflexion (9 specimens), plantarflexion (7 specimens), inversion (8 specimens), and eversion (8 specimens). Failure in the joints occurred at an average moment of -33.1 +/- 16.5 Nm in dorsiflexion, 40.1 +/- 9.2 Nm in plantarflexion, -34.1 +/- 14.5 Nm in inversion, and 48.1 +/- 12.2 Nm in eversion. The failure angle was also determined in all four motions. Failure was best predicted by an angle of -44.0 +/- 10.9 deg in dorsiflexion, 71.6 +/- 5.7 deg in plantarflexion, -34.3 +/- 7.5 deg in inversion, and 32.4 +/- 7.3 deg in eversion. Injury was identified in every preparation tested in inversion and eversion, while it resulted in five of the nine preparations in dorsiflexion, and in three of the seven in plantarflexion. Injury occurred at -47.0 +/- 5.3 deg and -36.2 +/- 14.8 Nm in dorsiflexion, and at 68.7 +/- 5.9 deg and 36.7 +/- 2.5 Nm in plantarflexion. The results obtained in this study provide basic information of the ankle-subtalar joint kinematics, biomechanics, and injury. The data will be used to form a basis for corridors of the ankle-subtalar joint responses.

Validation of tagging with MR imaging to estimate material deformation.

Myocardial tagging with magnetic resonance imaging is useful for non-invasive estimation of in vivo heart wall deformation. To validate the method of strain estimation and quantify the error of deformation estimates, a deformable silicone gel phantom in the shape of a cylindrical anulus was built and imaged. Four observers digitized the displacement of magnetic tags in two deformation modes: axial shear, caused by a 45 degrees rotation of the inner cylinder, and azimuthal shear, caused by a 13.5-mm longitudinal translation of the inner cylinder. In axial shear, good agreement was found between the angular displacement of stripes painted on the gel and an analytic solution. Displacement of magnetic tags also agreed with that solution. Interobserver and observer-model errors in deformation estimates were quantified for homogeneous and nonhomogeneous strain analysis. In homogeneous strain analysis, errors in point localization produced relatively large errors, which were reduced in nonhomogeneous strain analysis. Both estimates were unbiased across the range of deformations.