Custer T W, Ohlendorf H M
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, Maryland 20708.
J Wildl Dis. 1989 Jul;25(3):359-63. doi: 10.7589/0090-3558-25.3.359.
inhibition of brain cholinesterase (ChE) activity in birds is often used to diagnose exposure or death from organophosphorus or carbamate pesticides. Brain ChE activity in the young of altricial species increases with age; however, this relationship has only been demonstrated in the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris). Brain ChE activity of nestling great egrets (Casmerodius albus) collected from a colony in Texas (USA) increased significantly with age and did not differ among individuals from different nests. Brain ChE activity of nestling snowy egrets (Egretta thula) and black-crowned night-herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) collected in one colony each from Rhode Island, Texas and California (USA) also increased significantly with age and did not differ among individuals from different nests or colonies. This study further demonstrates that age must be considered when evaluating exposure of nestling altricial birds to ChE inhibitors.
抑制鸟类大脑中的胆碱酯酶（ChE）活性常被用于诊断因有机磷或氨基甲酸酯类农药暴露或致死的情况。晚成雏物种幼鸟的大脑ChE活性会随年龄增长而增加；然而，这种关系仅在欧洲椋鸟（Sturnus vulgaris）中得到证实。从美国得克萨斯州一个鸟群收集的雏大白鹭（Casmerodius albus）的大脑ChE活性随年龄显著增加，且来自不同巢穴的个体之间没有差异。分别从美国罗德岛州、得克萨斯州和加利福尼亚州的一个鸟群收集的雏雪鹭（Egretta thula）和黑冠夜鹭（Nycticorax nycticorax）的大脑ChE活性也随年龄显著增加，且来自不同巢穴或鸟群的个体之间没有差异。这项研究进一步表明，在评估晚成雏幼鸟对ChE抑制剂的暴露情况时，必须考虑年龄因素。
