Combined Effects of Experimental Heavy-Metal Contamination (Cu, Zn, and CH3Hg) and Starvation on Quail's Body Condition: Parallelism with a Wild Common Guillemot (Uria aalge) Population Found Stranded at the Belgian Coast

• Main Authors: Debacker, Virginie, Rutten, Astrid, Jauniaux, Thierry, Daemers, Claire, Bouquegneau, Jean-Marie
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Humana Press 2001
• Subjects: Heavy metals; Common quail; Common guillemot; Cachexia; Belgian coast; Life sciences; Aquatic sciences & oceanology; Environmental sciences & ecology; Sciences du vivant; Sciences aquatiques & océanologie; Sciences de l’environnement & écologie; common guillemot; Uria aalge; uria
• Online Access: https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/15979; https://doi.org/10.1385/BTER:82:1-3:087

peer reviewed Combined effects of heavy-metal contamination (Cu, Zn, and CH3Hg) and starvation were tested on common quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) and used as a model for comparison with a wild common guillemot (Uria aalge) population found stranded at the Belgian coast. Appropriate heavy-metal levels were given to the quails to obtain concentrations similar to those found in the seabirds's tissues. The contaminated animals were then starved for 4 d to simulate the evident malnutrition symptoms observed at the guillemot's level. In such conditions, food intake and total-body weight are shown to decrease in contaminated individuals with simultaneous significant hepatic and renal increase of the heavy-metal concentrations. Like guillemots, higher heavy-metal levels were observed in those contam- inated quails that had also developed a cachectic status characterized by a general atrophy of their pectoral muscle and complete absence of subcutaneous and/or abdominal fat depots. Although likely the result of a general protein catabolism during starvation, it is suggested that these higher metal levels could as well enhance a general muscle wasting process (cachectic status). Impulse Programme in Marine Sciences