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Differences in the Activities of Serum Antioxidant and Immune Factors between Wild and Captive Spotted Seal (Phoca largha) Pups from the Liaodong Bay Colony

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Abstract

The innate immune system plays a vital role to resist the environmental stresses and infectious pathogens in marine mammal pups. To get a baseline level of innate immune capacity in spotted seals, the concentrations of several antioxidant and immune-related factors in the serum of wild and captive spotted seal (Phoca largha) pups from the Liaodong Bay colony were measured and compared. Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase and peroxidase were mainly responsible for the antioxidant system of spotted seal pups, and wild pups possessed stronger antioxidant capacity than captive ones. Against infectious pathogens, wild spotted seal pups also had an advantage over the captive counterparts. Specifically, the activities of acid phosphatase, phenoloxidase, and lysozyme in the serum of wild spotted seal pups were significantly higher than those in captive animals. The present study provides the normal activities of several serum immune enzymes for wild and captive spotted seal pups from the Liaodong Bay colony, which is benefit to the conservation of this species.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported by the Foundation of Liaoning Province Department of Ocean and Fisheries (201812/201822) and the China Environment and Zoology Protection for Offshore Oil and Ocean Foundation (CF-MEEC/ER/2019-10). We also thank the staff of the Dalian Sun Asia Aquarium for their assistance in collecting the blood samples of spotted seals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dalian Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology for Endangered Marine mammals, Liaoning Ocean and Fisheries Science Research Institute, Dalian, Liaoning, China

    Jiashen Tian, Jing Du, Jiabo Han & Zhichuang Lu

  2. Dalian Sun Asia Tourism Holding Co., Ltd., Dalian, Liaoning, China

    Xinran Song

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  1. Jiashen Tian
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  2. Jing Du
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  3. Jiabo Han
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Correspondence to Jing Du.

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Conflict of interests. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Statement on the welfare of animals. All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

Samples of spotted seals collected in Liaodong Bay, China, were authorized under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, permit no. 1376.

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Jiashen Tian, Du, J., Han, J. et al. Differences in the Activities of Serum Antioxidant and Immune Factors between Wild and Captive Spotted Seal (Phoca largha) Pups from the Liaodong Bay Colony. Russ J Mar Biol 47, 68–71 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063074021010107

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063074021010107

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