Fair Patricia A, Schaefer Adam M, Houser Dorian S, Bossart Gregory D, Romano Tracy A, Champagne Cory D, Stott Jeffrey L, Rice Charles D, White Natasha, Reif John S
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, Center for Coastal Environmental Health & Biomolecular Research, Charleston, SC, United States of America.
Department of Public Health Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2017 May 3;12(5):e0176202. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0176202. eCollection 2017.
Immune and endocrine responses play a critical role in allowing animals to adjust to environmental perturbations. We measured immune and endocrine related markers in multiple samples from individuals from two managed-care care dolphin groups (n = 82 samples from 17 dolphins and single samples collected from two wild dolphin populations: Indian River Lagoon, (IRL) FL (n = 26); and Charleston, (CHS) SC (n = 19). The immune systems of wild dolphins were more upregulated than those of managed-care-dolphins as shown by higher concentrations of IgG and increases in lysozyme, NK cell function, pathogen antibody titers and leukocyte cytokine transcript levels. Collectively, managed-care care dolphins had significantly lower levels of transcripts encoding pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF, anti-viral MX1 and INFα and regulatory IL-10. IL-2Rα and CD69, markers of lymphocyte activation, were both lower in managed-care care dolphins. IL-4, a cytokine associated with TH2 activity, was lower in managed-care care dolphins compared to the free-ranging dolphins. Differences in immune parameters appear to reflect the environmental conditions under which these four dolphin populations live which vary widely in temperature, nutrition, veterinary care, pathogen/contaminant exposures, etc. Many of the differences found were consistent with reduced pathogenic antigenic stimulation in managed-care care dolphins compared to wild dolphins. Managed-care care dolphins had relatively low TH2 lymphocyte activity and fewer circulating eosinophils compared to wild dolphins. Both of these immunologic parameters are associated with exposure to helminth parasites which is uncommon in managed-care care dolphins. Less consistent trends were observed in a suite of hormones but significant differences were found for cortisol, ACTH, total T4, free T3, and epinephrine. While the underlying mechanisms are likely multiple and complex, the marked differences observed in the immune and endocrine systems of wild and managed-care care dolphins appear to be shaped by their environment.
免疫和内分泌反应在使动物适应环境扰动方面起着关键作用。我们测量了来自两个管理护理海豚群体个体的多个样本中的免疫和内分泌相关标志物（17只海豚的82个样本，以及从两个野生海豚种群采集的单个样本：佛罗里达州印度河泻湖（IRL）（n = 26）；南卡罗来纳州查尔斯顿（CHS）（n = 19）。野生海豚的免疫系统比管理护理海豚的更上调，表现为IgG浓度更高、溶菌酶增加、自然杀伤细胞功能增强、病原体抗体滴度升高以及白细胞细胞因子转录水平增加。总体而言，管理护理海豚中编码促炎细胞因子TNF、抗病毒蛋白MX1和INFα以及调节性IL - 10的转录水平显著较低。淋巴细胞活化标志物IL - 2Rα和CD69在管理护理海豚中均较低。与自由放养海豚相比，与TH2活性相关的细胞因子IL - 4在管理护理海豚中较低。免疫参数的差异似乎反映了这四个海豚种群所处的环境条件，这些条件在温度、营养、兽医护理、病原体/污染物暴露等方面差异很大。发现的许多差异与管理护理海豚相比野生海豚中致病性抗原刺激减少一致。与野生海豚相比，管理护理海豚的TH2淋巴细胞活性相对较低，循环嗜酸性粒细胞较少。这两个免疫参数都与接触蠕虫寄生虫有关，而在管理护理海豚中这种情况并不常见。在一组激素中观察到的趋势不太一致，但在皮质醇、促肾上腺皮质激素、总T4、游离T3和肾上腺素方面发现了显著差异。虽然潜在机制可能是多重且复杂的，但野生和管理护理海豚的免疫和内分泌系统中观察到的显著差异似乎是由它们的环境塑造的。
