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Contaminant-related suppression of delayed-type hypersensitivity and antibody responses in harbour seals fed herring from the Baltic Sea
Ross, P.S.; de Swart, R.L.; Reijnders, P.J.H.; van Loveren, H.; Vos, J.G.; Osterhaus, A.D.M.E. (1995). Contaminant-related suppression of delayed-type hypersensitivity and antibody responses in harbour seals fed herring from the Baltic Sea, in: Ross, P.S. Seals, pollution and disease: environmental contaminant-induced immunosuppression = Zeehonden, vervuiling en infectieziekten: immuunsuppressie als gevolg van blootstelling aan milieuvervuilende stoffen. pp. 81-91
In: Ross, P.S. (1995). Seals, pollution and disease: environmental contaminant-induced immunosuppression = Zeehonden, vervuiling en infectieziekten: immuunsuppressie als gevolg van blootstelling aan milieuvervuilende stoffen. PhD Thesis. Universiteit Utrecht: Utrecht. 176 pp., more
Related to:
Ross, P.S.; de Swart, R.L.; Reijnders, P.J.H.; van Loveren, H.; Vos, J.G.; Osterhaus, A.D.M.E. (1995). Contaminant-related suppression of delayed-type hypersensitivity and antibody responses in harbour seals fed herring from the Baltic Sea, in: de Swart, R.L. Impaired immunity in seals exposed to bioaccumulated environmental contaminants = Immuunsuppressie in zeehonden blootgesteld aan in de voedselketen geaccumuleerde milieuvervuilende stoffen. pp. 69-80, more
Ross, P.S.; de Swart, R.L.; Reijnders, P.J.H.; van Loveren, H.; Vos, J.G.; Osterhaus, A.D.M.E. (1995). Contaminant-related suppression of delayed-type hypersensitivity and antibody responses in harbour seals fed herring from the Baltic Sea. Environ. Health Perspect. 103(2): 162-167. https://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.95103162, more

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Keywords
    Fluids > Body fluids > Serum > Antibodies
    Immunity > Immune response > Immunity > Hypersensitivity
    Immunology
    Immunosuppression
    Pollution effects
    Therapy > Immunotherapy > Immunosuppression
    Toxicants
    Phoca vitulina Linnaeus, 1758 [WoRMS]; Phocidae Gray, 1821 [WoRMS]
    Marine/Coastal

Authors  Top 
  • Ross, P.S.
  • de Swart, R.L.
  • Reijnders, P.J.H., more
  • van Loveren, H.
  • Vos, J.G.
  • Osterhaus, A.D.M.E.

Abstract
    Recent mass mortalities among several marine mammal populations have led to speculation about increased susceptibility to viral infections as a result of contaminant-induced immunosuppression. In a 2.5-year study, we fed herring from either the relatively uncontaminated Atlantic Ocean or the contaminated Baltic Sea to two groups of captive harbor seals and monitored immune function in the seals. Seals fed the contaminated fish were less able to mount a specific immunological response to ovalbumin, as measured by in vivo delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reactions and antibody responses. The skin reaction to this protein antigen was characterized by the appearance of mononuclear cells which peaked at 24 hr after intradermal administration, characteristic of DTH reactions in other animals studied. These DTH responses correlated well with in vitro tests of T-lymphocyte function, implicating this cell type in the reaction. Aryl-hydrocarbon (Ah) receptor-dependent toxic equivalent (TEQ) profiles in blubber biopsies taken from the seals implicated polychlorinated biphenyls rather than dioxins or furans in the observed immunosuppression. Marine mammal populations currently inhabiting polluted coastal environments in Europe and North America may therefore have an increased susceptibility to infections, and pollution may have played a role in recent virus-induced mass mortalities.

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