Potential use of distinct biomarkers (trace metals, micronuclei, and nuclear abnormalities) in a heterogeneous sample of birds in southern Brazil

Tomazelli, Joana; Rodrigues, Gabriela Zimmermann Prado; Franco, Danielle; Souza, Mateus Santos de; Burghausen, Jorge Henrique; Panizzon, Jenifer; Kayser, Juliana Machado; Loiko, Márcia Regina; Schneider, Anelise; Linden, Rafael; Gehlen, Günther

doi:10.1007/s11356-021-16657-6

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Detection of nuclear abnormalities in erythrocytes has been performed in the last decade as the main procedure to assess genotoxicity in birds of different taxa [1][2][3]. Increases in nuclear abnormalities can be triggered by exposure of birds to different types of contaminants [4,5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating Deep Learning into Genotoxicity Biomarker Detection for Avian Erythrocytes: A Case Study in a Hemispheric Seabird

Frixione,

Roffet,

Adami

et al. 2024

MCA

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Recently, nuclear abnormalities in avian erythrocytes have been used as biomarkers of genotoxicity in several species. Anomalous shapes are usually detected in the nuclei by means of microscopy inspection. However, due to inter- and intra-observer variability, the classification of these blood cell abnormalities could be problematic for replicating research. Deep learning, as a powerful image analysis technique, can be used in this context to improve standardization in identifying the biological configurations of medical and veterinary importance. In this study, we present a standardized deep learning model for identifying and classifying abnormal shapes in erythrocyte nuclei in blood smears of the hemispheric and synanthropic kelp gulls (Larus dominicanus). We trained three convolutional backbones (ResNet34, ResNet50, and ResNet101 architectures) to obtain models capable of detecting and classifying these abnormalities in blood cells. The analysis was performed at three discrimination levels of classification, with broad categories subdivided into increasingly specific subcategories (level 1: “normal”, “abnormal”, “other”; level 2: “normal”, “ENAs”, “micronucleus”, “other”; level 3: “normal”, “irregular”, “displaced”, “enucleated”, “micronucleus”, “other”). The results were more than adequate and very similar in levels 1 and 2 (F1-score 84.6% and 83.6%, and accuracy 83.9% and 82.6%). In level 3, performance was lower (F1-score 65.9% and accuracy 80.8%). It can be concluded that the level 2 analysis should be considered the most appropriate as it is more specific than level 1, with similar quality of performance. This method has proven to be a fast, efficient, and standardized approach that reduces the dependence on human supervision in the classification of nuclear abnormalities in avian erythrocytes, and can be adapted to be used in similar contexts with reduced effort.

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