Contaminants in molting long-tailed ducks and nesting common eiders in the Beaufort Sea.

In 2000, we collected blood from long-tailed ducks (Clangula hyemalis) and blood and eggs from common eiders (Somateria mollissima) at near-shore islands in the vicinity of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and at a reference area east of Prudhoe Bay. Blood was analyzed for trace elements and egg contents were analyzed for trace elements, organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Except for Se (mean=36.1 microg/g dry weight (dw) in common eiders and 48.8 microg/g dw in long-tailed ducks), concentrations of trace elements in blood were low and, although several trace elements differed between areas, they were not consistently higher at one location. In long-tailed ducks, Se in blood was positively correlated with activities of two serum enzymes, suggestive of an adverse effect of increasing Se levels on the liver. Although common eiders had high Se concentrations in their blood, Se residues in eggs were low (mean=2.28 microg/g dw). Strontium and Ni were higher in eggs near Prudhoe Bay than at the reference area, but none of the other trace elements or organic contaminants in eggs differed between locations. Concentrations of Ca, Sr, Mg, and Ni differed among eggs having no visible development, early-stage embryos, or late-stage embryos. Residues of 4,4'-DDE, cis-nonachlor, dieldrin, hexachlorobenzene, oxychlordane, and trans-nonachlor were found in 100% of the common eider eggs, but at low concentrations (means of 2.35-7.45 microg/kg wet weight (ww)). The mean total PCB concentration in eggs was 15.12 microg/kg ww. Of PAHs tested for, residues of 1- and 2-methylnaphthalene and naphthalene were found in 100% of the eggs, at mean concentrations of 0.36-0.89 microg/kg ww.

Use of serum biochemistry to evaluate nutritional status and health of incubating common eiders (Somateria mollissima) in Finland.

During 1997-1999, we collected serum samples from 156 common eider (Somateria mollissima) females incubating eggs in the Finnish archipelago of the Baltic Sea. We used serum chemistry profiles to evaluate metabolic changes in eiders during incubation and to compare the health and nutritional status of birds nesting at a breeding area where the eider population has declined by over 50% during the past decade, with birds nesting at two areas with stable populations. Several changes in serum chemistries were observed during incubation, including (1) decreases in serum glucose, total protein, albumin, beta-globulin, and gamma-globulin concentrations and (2) increases in serum uric acid, creatine kinase, and beta-hydroxybutyrate concentrations. However, these changes were not consistent throughout the 3-yr period, suggesting differences among years in the rate of carbohydrate, lipid, and protein utilization during incubation. The mean serum concentrations of free fatty acids, glycerol, and albumin were lowest and the serum alpha- and gamma-globulin levels were highest in the area where the eider population has declined, suggesting a role for nutrition and diseases in the population dynamics of Baltic eiders.

Polychlorinated biphenyls in diseased lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus fuscus) chicks from the Gulf of Finland.

Diseases due to the degeneration of the liver and various other internal organs were the major cause of the exceedingly high chick mortality in lesser black-backed gulls (Larus fuscus fuscus) in the central Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea, during 1991-1993. The same symptoms were found in chicks of common gulls (Larus canus) and herring gulls (Larus argentatus) from the same focal area, although at a much lower frequency. We found disproportionately high concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in liver relative to leg muscle in lesser black-backed chicks compared with common gull and herring gull chicks. The causality between PCB residues and chick diseases remains unknown. No signs of chick edema disease or abnormal frequency of embryonic deaths, commonly associated with organochlorines in biota, were found. It is concluded that studies made in a very small geographical area may not give a good correlation between dose and effect due to an even greater variation in tolerance. Another explanation is that the diseases may not have been PCB-induced.

An experimental study on the effects of polymorphiasis in common eider ducklings.

Eight common eider (Somateria mollissima) ducklings were experimentally infected from 1 June through 13 June, 1995 with acanthocephalans (Polymorphus minutus) by allowing the birds to feed on Gammarus spp. (Gammarus oceanicus, G. salinus, G. zaddachi, and G. lacustris) containing acanthocephalan cystacanths. Uninfected Gammarus spp. were fed to a control group of seven ducklings. No mortality of ducklings occurred during the experiment. However, the infected ducklings gained weight more slowly than the control birds. After the 2 wk study period, the mean serum concentrations of total protein, albumin, beta-globulin, gamma-globulin, fructosamine and creatine kinase were lower in the infected group than in the controls. The mean (+/-SE) number of acanthocephalans in the intestine of the infected ducklings was 21 (+/-4). The parasites were attached to the mucosa of the posterior small intestine of the infected ducklings with a mixed inflammatory reaction consisting of heterophils and mononuclear lymphocytes surrounding the attachment sites.

Immune responses and clinical outcome of massive human osteoarticular allografts.

Cell mediated immune responses as measured by lymphocyte proliferation induced by the mitogens phytohemagglutinin and concanavalin A and antigen extracts of donor derived bone were studied within 2 years after wide resection of bone tumors in 18 patients receiving fresh frozen massive osteoarticular allografts. No uniform changes were seen in mitogen induced responses in 18 patients. However, five of nine patients tested with antigen extracts of donor derived bone showed elevated immune responses, one moderate and four weak. The incorporation of the allograft (evaluated by repeated radiographs; specific isotope techniques; clinical outcome assessed by the functional rating scores of Mankin-Waber and the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society; and histologic biopsy findings on new bone formation) did not differ in these patients from those in patients without any response to donor derived tissue. During a long term followup (mean, 11 years; range, 2-20 years), degenerative joint and sclerotic density bone changes developed after 2 to 4 years without correlation to immune responses. Histologic specimens showed no signs of immunologic reaction, and no clinical rejection episodes were recorded. A slightly variable immune response to allograft bone seems to occur, but its clinical significance for outcome of the grafts remains to be determined. The low immune responses might reflect a low antigen release rate through an indirect pathway or immunologic tolerance to antigens or proteins shed from massive allografts that are nonliving scaffold implants during the creeping substitution process, corresponding to the low immune response and the slow histologic repair.

The effect of intraoperative injection of hyaluronan under a one-piece glaucoma filtration implant in the rabbit eye.

The effect of a single intraoperative injection of hyaluronan on intraocular pressure (IOP) and postsurgical tissue healing was evaluated on 18 rabbits with an aqueous drainage implant. During the follow-up period IOP was recorded and analysed. Furthermore, inflammatory reaction and appearance of the fibrous tissue around the implants were studied in histological sections. In both the hyaluronan and control groups the operation lowered the average IOP statistically significantly for the whole follow-up period when compared with preoperative values. From days 7 to 60 the mean IOP values of the hyaluronan injected eyes stayed at a lower level than in the control eyes, but with no statistical difference between the 2 groups. The connective tissue layer around the implants appeared less dense during the first 17 postoperative days in the sodium-hyaluronate group; in addition, the inflammatory cell reaction showed a tendency to remain acute longer.

Effect of platelet count on serum and plasma potassium: evaluation using database information from two hospitals.

The availability of retrospective data from potassium (K+) analyses from two hospitals, one using serum and the other plasma for electrolyte measurements, offered us the possibility to investigate the effect of blood platelet count on serum and plasma K+ concentrations. A weak correlation between plasma K+ and platelet count was observed. The in vitro increase of serum K+ in proportion to the platelet count has clinical significance in conditions, where it may impede the detection of an underlying true K+ disorder. Nomograms and correction factors, based on the correlation between platelet count and serum K+, have been suggested also in some recent reports. In the present study unselected routine patient data was used as source data. The effect of platelet count on the concentration of K+ in serum was lower than reported in previous studies, as indicated by the regression analysis. An increase of 1000 x 10(9)/l in the blood platelet count would cause an increase of about 0.7 mmol/l in the serum K+ concentration (p < 0.0001, r = 0.155). The weak correlation between platelet count and serum K+ does not support the application of platelet-count-based correction of serum K+ level in thrombocytosis. The laboratory should notify the clinician of the significance of the in vitro increase of K+ caused by increased platelet count. K+ should be measured from plasma in such cases.

Partial characterization of amyloid proteins in inherited amyloidosis with lattice corneal dystrophy and in secondary amyloidosis.

Amyloid fibrils isolated from two patients, one with inherited systemic amyloidosis and lattice corneal dystrophy, and the other with secondary amyloidosis due to chronic glomerulonephritis, were studied using immunologic, electrophoretic and chromatographic techniques. Amino acid hydrolysates of both amyloid types showed a high proportion of acidic and aliphatic amino acid residues but were non-identical in the overall amino acid composition. The preparations also contained 12--16% lipids. Guanidine hydrochloride denaturated amyloid fibrils of both types were resolved into four fractions in Sepharose 6B chromatography with molecular weights of ca. 160 000, 45 000, 20 000 and 8 000. The 160 000 mol. wt. fraction predominated in the chromatograms of inherited amyloid protein and was further resolved into two main fractions of 17 000 and 15 000 mol. wt. in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. None of these fractions from inherited amyloid protein showed immunologic identity with tissue-derived amyloid protein A (AA) whereas all four fractions from secondary amyloid reacted against anti-AA antiserum. The three major Sepharose 6B fractions of secondary amyloid fibrils were resolved into a 25 000 mol. wt. fraction in SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis without urea but into a 12 000 mol. wt. fraction in gels containing 8M urea after more drastic dissolving conditions of the fibrils.