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Dietary Selenomethionine Administration and Its Effects on the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis): Oxidative Status and Corticosterone Levels

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Abstract

Selenium (Se) is an essential nutrient which in excess causes toxicity. The disposal of incompletely combusted coal, which often is rich in Se, into aquatic settling basins is increasing the risk of Se exposure worldwide. However, very few studies have looked at the physiological effects of Se exposure on long-lived, top trophic vertebrates, such as the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). During a 7-week period, alligators were fed one of three dietary treatments: mice injected with deionized water or mice injected with water containing 1000 or 2000 ppm selenomethionine (SeMet). One week after the last feeding alligators were bled within 3 min of capture for plasma corticosterone (CORT). A few days later, all alligators were euthanized and whole blood and tail tissue were harvested to measure oxidative damage, an antioxidant-associated transcription factor, and antioxidant enzymes [glutathione peroxidase-1 (GPX1), superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1), and SOD2] by Western blotting. There was a dose-dependent increase in baseline CORT levels in alligators administered SeMet. Except for blood SOD2 levels, SeMet treatment had no effect (p > 0.05 for all) on oxidative status: oxidative damage, GPX1, SOD1, and muscle SOD2 levels were similar among treatments. Our results illustrate that high levels of Se may act as a stressor to crocodilians. Future studies should investigate further the physiological effects of Se accumulation in long-lived, top-trophic vertebrates.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Ruth Elsey and her staff at Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge for providing alligators for this study. Sharon L. Finger helped in the transport of alligators from Louisiana to South Carolina. Dan Quinn, Nick Bossebroek, David Haskins, Bess Harris, Sam Dean, and Megan E. Winzeler were instrumental in assisting with the feeding, blood sampling, and dissections of alligators. We thank two anonymous reviewers whose comments helped to improve an earlier version of this manuscript. Support was provided in part by Award Number DE-FC09-07SR22506 from Department of Energy to the University of Georgia Research Foundation, by the Crocodile Specialists Group, and Savannah River Nuclear Solutions – Area Completions Project. All experimental procedures were approved by the University of Georgia’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    John W. Finger Jr. & Travis C. Glenn

  2. Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, PO Drawer E, Aiken, SC, 29802, USA

    John W. Finger Jr., Matthew T. Hamilton & Tracey D. Tuberville

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA

    John W. Finger Jr., Meghan D. Kelley & Yufeng Zhang

  4. Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, CA, 94945, USA

    Yufeng Zhang

  5. School of Kinesiology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA

    Andreas N. Kavazis

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  1. John W. Finger Jr.
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Finger, J.W., Hamilton, M.T., Kelley, M.D. et al. Dietary Selenomethionine Administration and Its Effects on the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis): Oxidative Status and Corticosterone Levels. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 75, 37–44 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-018-0530-1

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