Physiological costs of infection: herpesvirus replication is linked to blood oxidative stress in equids

Seeber, Peter A.; Soilemetzidou, Sanatana-Eirini; Azab, Walid; Bohner, Julia; Buuveibaatar, Bayarbaatar; Czirják, Gábor Á.; East, Marion L.; Greunz, Eva Maria; Kaczensky, Petra; Lamglait, Benjamin; Melzheimer, Jörg; Uiseb, Kenneth; Ortega, Alix; Osterrieder, Nikolaus; Sandgreen, Ditte-Mari; Simon, Marie; Walzer, Chris; Greenwood, Alex D.

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-28688-0

Cited by 16 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Thus, to exclude potential environmental contamination, rectal swabs were collected. Rectal and nasal swabs (Mini-UTM kit; Copan Diagnostics Inc., Murrieta, CA) and blood samples (12 ml in EDTA) of free-ranging mountain zebras (n ϭ 11) and plains zebras (n ϭ 7) in Etosha National Park and Khomas region, Namibia, were collected after immobilization (35). Furthermore, swabs, blood, and tissue samples from mountain zebras which had been hunted for meat production were collected (stored in RNAlater).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Noninvasive Detection of Equid Herpesviruses in Fecal Samples

Seeber

Dayaram

Sicks

et al. 2019

Appl Environ Microbiol

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Equid herpesviruses (EHVs) are pathogens of equid and nonequid hosts that can cause disease and fatalities in captivity and in the wild. EHVs establish latent infections but can reactivate, and most EHVs are shed via the nasal passage. Therefore, nasal swabs are generally used for EHV monitoring. However, invasive sampling of wild equids is difficult. While feces is a commonly used substrate for detecting other pathogens, to our knowledge, EHVs have never been detected in feces of naturally infected equids. We systematically tested zebra feces for EHV presence by (i) establishing nested PCR conditions for fecal DNA extracts, (ii) controlling for environmental EHV contamination, and (iii) large-scale testing on a free-ranging zebra population. A dilution minimizing inhibition while maximizing viral DNA concentrations was determined in captive Grévy’s zebra (Equus grevyi) fecal samples from individuals shedding EHV nasally. Sixteen of 42 fecal samples (38%) were EHV positive. To demonstrate that the EHV positivity was not a result of environmental contamination, rectal swabs of wild zebras were screened (n = 18 [EquusquaggaandE. zebra]), and 50% were EHV positive, indicating that the source of EHV in feces is likely the intestinal mucosa and not postdefecation contamination. Out of 270 fecal samples of wild zebras, 26% were EHV positive. Quantitative PCRs showed that the amount of virus DNA in feces was not significantly smaller than that in other samples. In summary, fecal sampling facilitates large-scale screening and may be useful to noninvasively investigate phylogenetic EHV diversity in wild and domestic equids.IMPORTANCEEquid herpesviruses (EHVs) establish latent infections, and many EHVs are shed and transmitted via nasal discharge primarily through droplet and aerosol infection. Obtaining nasal swabs and other invasive samples from wildlife is often not possible without capture and physical restraint of individuals, which are resource intensive and a health risk for the captured animals. Fecal EHV shedding has never been demonstrated for naturally infected equids. We established the conditions for fecal EHV screening, and our results suggest that testing fecal samples is an effective noninvasive approach for monitoring acute EHV shedding in equids.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Noninvasive Detection of Equid Herpesviruses in Fecal Samples

Seeber

Dayaram

Sicks

et al. 2019

Appl Environ Microbiol

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“…Chronic exposure to phocine herpes strains PhHV-1 and PhHV-2 has now been reported for spotted, ribbon, bearded, and ringed seals in the North Pacific, indicating that marine mammals in this region may be regularly exposed to the virus (32, 34, 35, 75). Prevalence and/or relative titers of PhHV-1 could be a useful adjunct to evaluating individual and population health status, as herpes has been shown to manifest more strongly in animal populations with limited resources or compromised health status (76, 77) as well as different levels of mental stress in people (78).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Health Assessments of Alaskan Ice Seals

et al. 2019

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Bearded (Erignathus barbatus), ringed (Pusa hispida), spotted (Phoca largha), and ribbon (Histriophoca fasciata) seals rely on seasonal sea-ice in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. Many aspects of the biology and physiology of these seals are poorly known, and species-typical health parameters are not available for all species. Such information has proven difficult to obtain due to the challenges of studying Arctic seals in the wild and their minimal historic representation in aquaria. Here, we combine diagnostic information gathered between 2000 and 2017 from free-ranging seals, seals in short-term rehabilitation, and seals living in long-term human care to evaluate and compare key health parameters. For individuals in apparent good health, hematology, and blood chemistry values are reported by the source group for 10 bearded, 13 ringed, 73 spotted, and 81 ribbon seals from Alaskan waters. For a smaller set of individuals handled during veterinary or necropsy procedures, the presence of parasites and pathogens is described, as well as exposure to a variety of infectious diseases known to affect marine mammals and/or humans, with positive titers observed for Brucella, Leptospira, avian influenza, herpesvirus PhHV-1, and morbillivirus. These data provide initial baseline parameters for hematology, serum chemistries, and other species-level indicators of health that can be used to assess the condition of individual seals, inform monitoring and management efforts, and guide directed research efforts for Alaskan populations of ice-associated seals.

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“…Lactating zebras were only sampled in Tanzania, and their foals were estimated to be between several weeks and 6 months of age, based on body size (Seeber et al 2018b). Zebras were immobilized using a dart gun [as described by Costantini et al (2018)]; blood samples were drawn from the jugular vein approximately 15-30 min after darting and were collected in serum or EDTA tubes (S-Monovette Z, and S-Monovette K, respectively, Sarstedt, Hildesheim, Germany). Serum was separated from the clot after 15-30 min and placed in cryotubes.…”

Section: Sample Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immune differences in captive and free-ranging zebras (Equus zebra and E. quagga)

Seeber

Morrison

Ortega³

et al. 2020

Mamm Biol

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Wild mammals in ex situ captivity experience substantially different environmental conditions compared to free-ranging conspecifics, e.g., in terms of diet, climatic conditions, social factors, movement space, and direct anthropogenic disturbance. Moreover, animals in captivity frequently undergo management interventions such as medical treatments which may influence pathogen pressure. Captivity is known to affect immunological responses in some terrestrial and marine mammals; however, it is unclear whether this can be generalized to other taxa. Furthermore, little is known about how energetically costly life history stages such as lactation influence the immune system in wildlife. We measured expression of components of the constitutive and induced innate immunity and of the adaptive immune system in plains and mountain zebras (Equus quagga and E. zebra), including lactating and non-lactating individuals. As a proxy for general immune function, we screened for lytic equine herpesvirus (EHV) infection, a common and often latent pathogen which is reactivated in response to stress and immune challenge. Both energetically cheap markers of the constitutive innate immunity were lower in captive than in wild zebras, whereas energetically costly markers of the induced innate immunity were more highly expressed in captive zebras. Lactation was associated with higher titers of natural antibodies and lysozyme. Lytic EHV infection was not significantly correlated with any of the measured immune markers. Our results suggest that captivity and lactation may influence immune functions in zebra mares.

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Physiological costs of infection: herpesvirus replication is linked to blood oxidative stress in equids

Cited by 16 publications

References 48 publications

Noninvasive Detection of Equid Herpesviruses in Fecal Samples

Noninvasive Detection of Equid Herpesviruses in Fecal Samples

Comparative Health Assessments of Alaskan Ice Seals

Immune differences in captive and free-ranging zebras (Equus zebra and E. quagga)

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