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Total mercury concentrations were highest in the kidney (3.18 ± 0.69 mg/kg dw) and liver (3.12 ± 0.76 mg/kg dw). However, the extended period of time between sampling (in this study) and the present-day highlight the need for continuous, additional, and more recent sampling to ensure consumer safety. Here, our results suggest consumption of meat from alligators found in this region may be of little public health concern. However, overall, THg concentrations measured in alligators were below the FDA action level for more » fish consumption and were comparable to previous data reported from southwestern Louisiana. Mercury was found in all body organs and tissue compartments. Concentrations of THg in claws and dermal tail scutes were compared to those in blood, brain, gonad, heart, kidney, liver, and skeletal muscle to determine if the former tissues, commonly available by non-lethal sampling, could be used as measures of body burdens in various internal organs. Total mercury (THg) concentrations were measured in wild alligators inhabiting a coastal marsh in southern Louisiana, to determine the tissue distribution of THg among various body organs and tissue compartments. Furthermore, our results suggest that measurement of CORT in tail scutes, when compared to plasma CORT, H/L ratios, and body condition, is the best indicator of Se-exposure and accumulation in crocodilians. The only parameter significantly correlated with liver and kidney Se concentrations was scute CORT. To evaluate which parameter best indicated Se accumulation in the liver and kidney, principal component and discriminant analyses were performed.
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Following the 7-week treatment protocol, blood and tissue samples were obtained to measure plasma corticosterone (CORT the main crocodilian GC), tail scute CORT, the ratio of peripheral blood heterophils (H) to lymphocytes (L) as H/L ratio, and body condition. Alligators were divided into three dietary treatments and fed prey spiked with 1000 or 2000 ppm selenomethionine (SeMet) or deionized water (control treatment) for 7 weeks. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of long-term Se exposure on traditionally used stress parameters and to identify which of these parameters best more » indicate Se accumulation in liver and kidney of the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), a top trophic carnivore found in the southeastern United States and known to inhabit Se-containing areas. However, most studies examining how Se affects GCs have been focused on lower trophic organisms. Environmental concentrations of Se are increasing due to anthropogenic activities, including the incomplete combustion of coal and subsequent disposal of coal combustion wastes. = ,Įnvironmental contaminants, such as the trace element selenium (Se), are a continuing concern to species worldwide due to their potential pathophysiological effects, including their influence on the stress response mediated through glucocorticoids (GCs stress hormones). Furthermore, while our study is among the first to experimentally examine the usefulness of tissue CORT in crocodilians, a combination of field and laboratory experiments are needed to better understand deposition rates of CORT in scute tissues and to further validate the usefulness of tissue glucocorticoids for evaluating the effects of stress. Furthermore, our results indicate that there was more » a significant effect of body condition on an alligator’s post-stressor CORT concentration (p = 0.02). However, there was a significant increase in scute CORT concentrations following an alligator being exposed to a short-term stressor (p = 0.017), although the magnitude of change was less than observed in plasma samples from the same individuals (p = 0.002). We found that CORT can be reliably extracted from alligator scute tissue and quantified using a commercially available enzyme immunoassay. The objective of the current study was to better understand CORT deposition in crocodilian scutes and whether short-term increases in CORT could be detected. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of using American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) tail scute tissues to quantify CORT by collecting blood and tail scutes from 40 alligators before and after a short-term handling stressor. Thus, it may prove beneficial to use recently modified techniques for extracting CORT deposited in keratinized and non-keratinized tissues to better quantify the effects of long-term stress in crocodilians. However, collecting baseline plasma CORT samples from wild crocodilians may be particularly difficult due to the capture and handling protocols used for large individuals. Baseline plasma corticosterone (CORT) concentrations have been widely used to investigate the effects of stressors in wild and captive crocodilians.