title: Organohalogenated contaminants in white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) nestlings: An assessment of relationships to immunoglobulin levels, telomeres and oxidative stress.
abstract: Biomagnifying organohalogenated compounds (OHCs) may have adverse effects on the health of birds, especially marine avian top predators that accumulate high OHC loads. Contaminants may impair the humoral immunity and also influence the antioxidant enzyme activity (i.e. oxidative stress). Moreover, physical conditions and oxidative stress during development may reduce telomere lengths, one of the main mechanisms explaining cell senescence. To examine the potential effects of environmental contaminants on physiological biomarkers of health, OHCs with different 'physicochemical' properties were related to immunoglobulin Y levels (IgY; humoral immunity), superoxide dismutase enzyme (SOD) activity in blood plasma, and telomere length (measured in red blood cells) in individual 7-8weeks old nestlings (n=35) of white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) in the Norwegian Sub-Arctic. Different organochlorines (OCs) and perfluoroalkylated substances (PFASs) were measured in blood plasma of nestlings, demonstrating higher concentrations of the emerging contaminants (PFASs), notably perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), compared to legacy OCs. There were no relationships between the contaminant loads and plasma IgY levels. Moreover, differences between years were found for telomere lengths, but this was not related to contaminants and more likely a result of different developmental conditions. However, there were significant and negative relationships between the OC loadings and the SOD activity. This suggests that some legacy OCs challenge the antioxidant capacity in nestlings of white-tailed eagles.
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Fram Centre, N-9296 Tromsø, Norway; Faculty for Biosciences, Fisheries and Economy, The Arctic University of Norway, Brevika, 9037 Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Silja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sletten
authors.affiliation: The Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bourgeon
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Fram Centre, N-9296 Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Bård-Jørgen
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Bårdsen
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Fram Centre, NO-9296 Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Dorte
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Herzke
authors.affiliation: Evolutionary Ecophysiology Team, Department of Ecology, Physiology and Ethology, Hubert Curien Pluridisciplinary Institute, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR 7178, University of Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: Francois
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Criscuolo
authors.affiliation: Evolutionary Ecophysiology Team, Department of Ecology, Physiology and Ethology, Hubert Curien Pluridisciplinary Institute, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR 7178, University of Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Massemin
authors.affiliation: Evolutionary Ecophysiology Team, Department of Ecology, Physiology and Ethology, Hubert Curien Pluridisciplinary Institute, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR 7178, University of Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: Sandrine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zahn
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Fram Centre, N-9296 Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Trond Vidar
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Johnsen
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Fram Centre, N-9296 Tromsø, Norway. Electronic address: Jan.O.Bustnes@nina.no.
authors.forename: Jan Ove
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Bustnes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D020307:Eagles / Q000378:metabolism*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000378:metabolism*; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / Q000378:metabolism*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated
keywords: Organochlorines; Oxidative stress; Perfluoroalkyl substances; Plasma immunoglobulin Y; Telomeres; White-tailed eagle