C‐reactive protein in blood plasma and serum samples of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina)

Abstract

C‐reactive protein (CRP) belongs to the acute phase proteins. Increased levels are present in inflammatory conditions, trauma, or intoxications. In veterinary medicine CRP is used as powerful diagnostic parameter in health studies, whereas little is known about the role of CRP in Pinnipedia. Therefore, samples were collected from 131 harbor seals from the North Sea between November 2002 and November 2007. CRP blood values were measured and the physiological range was calculated. Furthermore, the influence of age and sex of the animal, geographical location and season was investigated. The CRP concentrations in plasma/serum showed a median of 33 μg/mL, a 5th percentile of 18 μg/mL, and a 95th percentile of 80 μg/mL. No significant influences of sex, season, or geographical location on CRP concentration were detected. Juveniles showed significantly higher CRP levels than adult animals, whereas CRP values in newborns appear to be lower than in juveniles and adults. Our report describes for the first time CRP plasma/serum concentrations in a large group of harbor seals. It suggests that CRP is useful to detect inflammatory conditions and may help to improve health studies of this species.

Postmortem Health and Pollution Investigations on Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina) of the Islands Helgoland and Sylt

“…Compared to free-living harbor seals of the Elbe estuary, the albumin-toglobulin ratios of all five animals were lower [12], indicating higher amount of globulins in relation to albumin in the sick animals than in clinically healthy seals. The concentrations of the acute phase protein CRP were high or in the upper range compared to reference date described for harbor seals [30]. The Hp concentrations were distinctly elevated for four of five seals (Pv 01, 03, 04, 05) compared to the reference range of harbor seals [19].…”

Body reserves influence allocation to immune responses in capital breeding female northern elephant seals

“…; Krafft, Lydersen & Kovacs ; Thomton & Mellish ; Kakuschke et al . ; Kakuschke, Pröfrock & Prange ). Less is known about how these markers vary with each other in wildlife systems or the role that natural variation in stress plays in modulating immunocompetency.…”

“…Immune markers do not always covary, so it is important to measure a suite of variables to characterize systemic response. However, published studies in non-model or wildlife systems frequently measure single or few immune or inflammation markers for comparison between groups or populations (Zenteno-Savin et al 1997;Marquez et al 1998;Krafft, Lydersen & Kovacs 2006;Thomton & Mellish 2007;Kakuschke et al 2010;Kakuschke, Pr€ ofrock & Prange 2013). Less is known about how these markers vary with each other in wildlife systems or the role that natural variation in stress plays in modulating immunocompetency.…”

Essential and Toxic Elements in Blood Samples of Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina) from the Islands Helgoland (North Sea) and Anholt (Baltic Sea): A Comparison Study with Urbanized Areas

“…However, only a few health and pollution studies have been realized. In three previous studies, we published acute phase protein blood concentrations of haptoglobin, C-reactive protein, and transferrin from harbor seals (Kakuschke et al 2010a;Grebe et al 2011;Kakuschke et al 2013). Additionally, a postmortem study of seals from Helgoland described macroscopic findings, blood parameters as well as metal and organic contaminants of several body fluids and tissues .…”

“…Blood sampling of harbor seals is considered minimally invasive and allows the analyses of pollutants, biomarkers, and health parameters additionally to in vitro cell experiments from living animals. For the North Sea, several investigations have been performed to measure contaminants (Griesel et al 2006;Das et al 2008;Griesel et al 2008;Kakuschke et al 2009;Weijs et al 2009a, b, c;Kakuschke et al 2010b), assess immune cell functions (De Swart 1995;Ross 1995;Kakuschke et al 2005;Das et al 2008;Dupont et al 2013), or analyse biomarkers Hasselmeier et al 2008;Kakuschke et al 2010a;Grebe et al 2010Grebe et al , 2011Grebe et al , 2012Kakuschke et al 2013) in blood samples of harbor seals. Most of these studies focused on animals closed to urbanized areas along the Wadden Sea coast.…”