Immune competence of rats fed with beluga whale blubber from the contaminated St. Lawrence estuary
- Univ. of Quebec, Montreal, Quebec (Canada)
Over the last decades, high concentrations of environmental contaminants such as PCBs have been measured in the tissues of many species of marine mammals from different parts of the world. Even though many deleterious effects of these compounds have been reported in laboratory animals, the overall risk associated with these contaminants in wild animals is still not clearly understood. However, necropsy of St. Lawrence belugas showed numerous severe and disseminated infections with rather mildly pathogenic bacteria. Moreover, 37% of all the tumors reported in cetaceans were observed in St. Lawrence beluga whales. Indeed, both observations suggest immunosuppression. The aim of the study was to determine if contaminants present in fat tissues of belugas might provoke deleterious effect to their immune system if, under some circumstances, they are released into the circulation. To assess their immunotoxic potential, rats were fed for two months on a diet in which the lipids originated from the blubber of either highly polluted St. Lawrence belugas or relatively uncontaminated arctic belugas. Then, multiple immune responses were monitored. Those include phagocytosis, plaque forming cells, oxidative burst, natural killer cells, immunophenotyping and mitogenic assay. The results obtained show that only the humoral response of rats was impaired by the treatment. By combining all this information, the authors propose possible mechanisms of action to explain potential long-term consequences of environmental pollution.
- OSTI ID:
- 442892
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-961149-; TRN: IM9712%%317
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 17. annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry: partnerships for the environment - science, education, and policy, Washington, DC (United States), 17-21 Nov 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of SETAC 17. annual meeting -- Abstract book. Partnerships for the environment: Science, education, and policy; PB: 378 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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