Blubber and serum cortisol concentrations as indicators of the stress response and overall health status in striped dolphins

The impacts of environmental changes and anthropogenic threats in marine mammals are a growing concern for their conservation. In recent years, efforts have been directed to understand how marine mammals cope with stressors and to assess and validate stress biomarkers, mainly levels of glucocorticoi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Part A, Molecular & integrative physiology Molecular & integrative physiology, 2022-10, Vol.272, p.111268-111268, Article 111268
Main Authors: Agusti, Clara, Carbajal, Annaïs, Olvera-Maneu, Sergi, Domingo, Mariano, Lopez-Bejar, Manel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
biomarkers
blood serum
Blubber
Brucella
Bycatch
Cortisol
dolphins
enzyme immunoassays
health status
Mediterranean region
Morbillivirus
Stranding
Stress
stress response
Striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba)
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Summary:The impacts of environmental changes and anthropogenic threats in marine mammals are a growing concern for their conservation. In recent years, efforts have been directed to understand how marine mammals cope with stressors and to assess and validate stress biomarkers, mainly levels of glucocorticoid hormones (e.g. cortisol) in certain body tissues. The aims of this study were to assess the impact of different causes of stranding (chronically affected and bycaught striped dolphins) on cortisol concentrations in serum and in blubber; and to evaluate the association between cortisol levels in these tissues. Blubber and blood samples were collected from striped dolphins (n = 42) stranded on the Mediterranean coast between 2012 and 2018. Cortisol concentrations were measured by using enzyme immunoassay. A high correlation was found between circulating and blubber cortisol concentrations (R2 = 0.85, p 
ISSN:1095-6433
1531-4332
DOI:10.1016/j.cbpa.2022.111268