Age-Related Mercury Contamination and Relationshipwith Luteinizing Hormone in a Long-Lived Antarctic Bird
Seabirds, as long-lived top predators, accumulate contaminants such as mercury (Hg), an established endocrine disruptor. In long lived species hormonal secretion varies with age; therefore, Hg-induced endocrine disruption may be exacerbated in some age classes. Here we investigated relationships bet...
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2479211 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0103642 |
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ftninstnf:oai:brage.nina.no:11250/2479211 2023-05-15T13:49:50+02:00 Age-Related Mercury Contamination and Relationshipwith Luteinizing Hormone in a Long-Lived Antarctic Bird Tartu, Sabrina Bustamante, Paco Goutte, Aurélie Weimerskirch, Henri Bustnes, Jan Ove Chastel, Olivier 2014 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2479211 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0103642 eng eng Andre: The Agence Nationale de la Recherche, France Andre: The Institut Polaire Franc¸ais Paul Emile Victor (IPEV no 10 Andre: The Terres Australes et Antarctiques Franc¸aises (TAAF). PLoS ONE 2014, 9(7) urn:issn:1932-6203 http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2479211 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0103642 cristin:1145762 Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no CC-BY Journal article Peer reviewed 2014 ftninstnf https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0103642 2021-12-23T07:16:54Z Seabirds, as long-lived top predators, accumulate contaminants such as mercury (Hg), an established endocrine disruptor. In long lived species hormonal secretion varies with age; therefore, Hg-induced endocrine disruption may be exacerbated in some age classes. Here we investigated relationships between blood total Hg and luteinizing hormone (LH, a key pituitary hormone for the onset of breeding), in pre-laying known-age (11–45 years old) snow petrels (Pagodroma nivea) from Ade´ lie Land, Antarctica. We predicted that 1) blood Hg would increase with advancing age as a consequence of bio-accumulation; and that 2) increasing blood Hg would be related to decreased concentrations of LH in the most Hg-contaminated individuals. Hg concentrations were higher in females than in males (p,0.001), and contrary to our prediction, decreased with advancing age in males (p = 0.009) and tended to do so in females (p = 0.06). The analysis of stable isotopes (d13C and d15N) suggested that this unexpected pattern could originate from age and sex-related variations in trophic niche, and hence Hg exposure. Regarding LH, our prediction was only supported in young birds (#23 years) where baseline LH was inversely correlated with Hg concentrations (p = 0.04). Hg burden did not predict baseline LH or GnRH-induced LH in birds that were more than 23 years old. These results show that age and contaminants may interfere with major endocrine mechanisms and, together with other recent studies, support the view that Hg could be connected to LH secretion and could then impair the fitness of long-lived birds. publishedVersion Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Snow Petrels Norwegian Institute for Nature Research: Brage NINA Antarctic Nivea ENVELOPE(-45.479,-45.479,-60.580,-60.580) PLoS ONE 9 7 e103642 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Norwegian Institute for Nature Research: Brage NINA |
op_collection_id |
ftninstnf |
language |
English |
description |
Seabirds, as long-lived top predators, accumulate contaminants such as mercury (Hg), an established endocrine disruptor. In long lived species hormonal secretion varies with age; therefore, Hg-induced endocrine disruption may be exacerbated in some age classes. Here we investigated relationships between blood total Hg and luteinizing hormone (LH, a key pituitary hormone for the onset of breeding), in pre-laying known-age (11–45 years old) snow petrels (Pagodroma nivea) from Ade´ lie Land, Antarctica. We predicted that 1) blood Hg would increase with advancing age as a consequence of bio-accumulation; and that 2) increasing blood Hg would be related to decreased concentrations of LH in the most Hg-contaminated individuals. Hg concentrations were higher in females than in males (p,0.001), and contrary to our prediction, decreased with advancing age in males (p = 0.009) and tended to do so in females (p = 0.06). The analysis of stable isotopes (d13C and d15N) suggested that this unexpected pattern could originate from age and sex-related variations in trophic niche, and hence Hg exposure. Regarding LH, our prediction was only supported in young birds (#23 years) where baseline LH was inversely correlated with Hg concentrations (p = 0.04). Hg burden did not predict baseline LH or GnRH-induced LH in birds that were more than 23 years old. These results show that age and contaminants may interfere with major endocrine mechanisms and, together with other recent studies, support the view that Hg could be connected to LH secretion and could then impair the fitness of long-lived birds. publishedVersion |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tartu, Sabrina Bustamante, Paco Goutte, Aurélie Weimerskirch, Henri Bustnes, Jan Ove Chastel, Olivier |
spellingShingle |
Tartu, Sabrina Bustamante, Paco Goutte, Aurélie Weimerskirch, Henri Bustnes, Jan Ove Chastel, Olivier Age-Related Mercury Contamination and Relationshipwith Luteinizing Hormone in a Long-Lived Antarctic Bird |
author_facet |
Tartu, Sabrina Bustamante, Paco Goutte, Aurélie Weimerskirch, Henri Bustnes, Jan Ove Chastel, Olivier |
author_sort |
Tartu, Sabrina |
title |
Age-Related Mercury Contamination and Relationshipwith Luteinizing Hormone in a Long-Lived Antarctic Bird |
title_short |
Age-Related Mercury Contamination and Relationshipwith Luteinizing Hormone in a Long-Lived Antarctic Bird |
title_full |
Age-Related Mercury Contamination and Relationshipwith Luteinizing Hormone in a Long-Lived Antarctic Bird |
title_fullStr |
Age-Related Mercury Contamination and Relationshipwith Luteinizing Hormone in a Long-Lived Antarctic Bird |
title_full_unstemmed |
Age-Related Mercury Contamination and Relationshipwith Luteinizing Hormone in a Long-Lived Antarctic Bird |
title_sort |
age-related mercury contamination and relationshipwith luteinizing hormone in a long-lived antarctic bird |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2479211 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0103642 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-45.479,-45.479,-60.580,-60.580) |
geographic |
Antarctic Nivea |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Nivea |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Snow Petrels |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Snow Petrels |
op_relation |
Andre: The Agence Nationale de la Recherche, France Andre: The Institut Polaire Franc¸ais Paul Emile Victor (IPEV no 10 Andre: The Terres Australes et Antarctiques Franc¸aises (TAAF). PLoS ONE 2014, 9(7) urn:issn:1932-6203 http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2479211 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0103642 cristin:1145762 |
op_rights |
Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0103642 |
container_title |
PLoS ONE |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
e103642 |
_version_ |
1766252355653730304 |