{"id":3504,"date":"2020-05-11T14:16:47","date_gmt":"2020-05-11T21:16:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gemmlab\/?p=3504"},"modified":"2020-05-11T14:16:51","modified_gmt":"2020-05-11T21:16:51","slug":"do-dolphins-get-hives-the-skinny-on-allergies-in-cetaceans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gemmlab\/2020\/05\/11\/do-dolphins-get-hives-the-skinny-on-allergies-in-cetaceans\/","title":{"rendered":"“Do Dolphins Get Hives?\u201d: The Skinny on Allergies in Cetaceans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By: <\/strong>Alexa Kownacki<\/strong><\/a>, Ph.D. Student, OSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna Lab<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While sitting\u00a0on my porch\u00a0and\u00a0watching the bees pollinate the blooming spring flowers, I intermittently pause\u00a0to scratch\u00a0the hives along my shoulders and chest.\u00a0In the middle of\u00a0my many\u00a0Zoom calls, I mute myself and stop my video because a wave of pollen hits my face and I\u00a0immediately have to\u00a0sneeze.\u00a0With this, I\u2019m reminded: Welcome to prime allergy season in the Northern Hemisphere. As I was scratching my chronic idiopathic urticaria (hives caused by\u00a0an\u00a0overactive\u00a0immune system), I asked myself \u201cDo dolphins get hives?\u201d\u00a0I had no idea. I know\u00a0most terrestrial mammals can and do\u2014just yesterday, one of the horses\u00a0in the nearby pasture was suffering from a flare of hives. But, what about aquatic and marine mammals?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Springtime flowers blooming on the Central California Coast 2017. (Image Source: A. Kownacki)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As\u00a0with most research on\u00a0marine mammal health,\u00a0knowledge is scare and is\u00a0frequently limited to\u00a0studies conducted on\u00a0captive and stranded animals.\u00a0Additionally,\u00a0most of the\u00a0current\u00a0theories\u00a0on\u00a0allergic\u00a0reactions\u00a0in marine mammals\u00a0are\u00a0based\u00a0on studies from terrestrial wildlife and humans.\u00a0Because nearly all research on histamine pathways centers on\u00a0terrestrial\u00a0animals,\u00a0I\u00a0wanted to see what information exists\u00a0the presence of\u00a0skin\u00a0allergies in\u00a0marine mammals.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allergic reactions trigger a cascade within the body, beginning with the introduction of a foreign body, which for many people is pollen. The allergen binds to antibodies that are produced to fight potentially harmful substances. Once this allergen binds to different types of cells, including mast cells, chemicals like histamines are released. Histamines cause the production of mucus and constriction of blood vessels, and thus are the reason your eyes water, your nose runs, or you start coughing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Basic cartoon of an allergic reaction from exposure to the allergen to the reaction from the animal. (Image Source: Scientific Malaysian)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As you probably can tell just by looking at a marine mammal, they have thicker skin and fewer mucus membranes\u00a0that humans, due to the fact\u00a0that\u00a0they live in the water.\u00a0However, mast cells or mast cell-like cells have been described in most vertebrate lineages including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and bony fishes\u00a0(Hellman et al. 2017, Reite and Evenson 2006). Mast cell-like cells have also been described in an early ancestor of the vertebrates, the tunicate, or sea squirt\u00a0(Wong et al. 2014).\u00a0Therefore, allergic-reaction cascades that may present as hives, red and itchy eyes or nose\u00a0in humans,\u00a0also\u00a0exist in marine mammals, but perhaps cause different or less visible symptoms.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skin conditions in cetaceans are gathering interest within the marine mammal health community. Even our very own Dawn Barlow<\/a>, Dr. Leigh Torres<\/a>, and Acacia Pepper<\/a> assessed the skin conditions in New Zealand blue whales<\/a> in their recent publication<\/a>. Most visible skin lesions or markings on cetaceans are caused by parasites, shark bits, fungal infections, and fishery or boat interactions (Leone et al. 2019, Sweeney and Ridgway 1985). However, there is very little scientific literature about allergic reactions in marine mammals, let alone cetaceans. That being said, I managed to find a few critical pieces of information supporting the theory that marine mammals do in fact have allergies that can produce dermal reactions similar to hives in humans.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In one study, three\u00a0captive\u00a0bottlenose dolphins\u00a0developed reddened skin, sloughing, macules, and wheals on their ventral surfaces (Monreal-Pawlowsky et al. 2017).\u00a0The medical staff first noticed\u00a0this\u00a0atopic dermatitis in 2005 and observed the process escalate\u00a0over the next decade.\u00a0Small biopsy samples from the affected areas on the three dolphins\u00a0coincided with the appearance of four pollens\u00a0in the\u00a0air within the geographic region: Betula<\/em>, Pistacia<\/em>, Celtis<\/em>, and Fagus<\/em>\u00a0(Monreal-Pawlowsky\u00a0et al. 2017). Topical prednisone treatments were applied to the affected areas at various dosages\u00a0that\u00a0slowly resolved the skin irritations. Researchers manufactured an allergy vaccine using a combination of the four pollens in hopes\u00a0that\u00a0it would prevent further seasonal outbreaks, but it was unsuccessful. In the coming years, the facility intends\u00a0to\u00a0adjust\u00a0the dosages to create a successful vaccine.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the three top images, visible skin irritation including redness, macules, wheals, and sloughing are present. In the image below, the above animal was treated with methylprednisolone and the skin irritation subsides. (Monreal-Pawlowsky\u00a0et al. 2017)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the above study, there is an unpublished case of suspected allergic reaction to another pollen\u00a0that produces a\u00a0pruritic reaction on the ventral areas of dolphins\u00a0on a seasonal basis (Vicente\u00a0Arribes, personal communication).\u00a0Although there are\u00a0only a few documented cases of environmentally-triggered allergic reactions that are visible on the dermal layer of cetaceans, I believe\u00a0this\u00a0evidence\u00a0makes the case\u00a0that\u00a0some cetaceans suffer\u00a0from allergies much like us.\u00a0So, next time you\u2019re enjoying the beautiful blooms and annoyingly\u00a0scratch your eyes, know\u00a0that\u00a0you\u00a0are not alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Image Source: FurEver Family<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Citations: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barlow DR, Pepper AL and Torres LG (2019) Skin Deep: An Assessment of New Zealand Blue Whale Skin Condition. Front. Mar. Sci. 6:757.doi: 10.3389\/fmars.2019.00757 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hellman LT, Akula S, Thorpe M and Fu Z (2017) Tracing the Origins of IgE, Mast Cells, and Allergies by Studies of Wild Animals. Front. Immunol. 8:1749. doi: 10.3389\/fimmu.2017.01749 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leone AB, Bonanno Ferraro G, Boitani L, Blasi MF. Skin marks in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) interacting with artisanal fishery in the central Mediterranean Sea. PLoS<\/em> One<\/em>. 2019;14(2):e0211767. Published 2019 Feb 5. doi:10.1371\/journal.pone.0211767 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monreal-Pawlowsky T, Fern\u00e1ndez-Bellon H, Puigdemont A (2017) Suspected Allergic Reaction in Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). J Vet Sci Ani Husb 5(1): 108. doi: 10.15744\/2348-9790.5.108 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reite OB, Evensen O. Inflammatory cells of teleostean fish: a review focusing on mast cells\/eosinophilic granule cells and rodlet cells. Fish Shellfish Immunol (2006) 20:192\u2013208. doi:10.1016\/j.fsi.2005.01.012 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sweeney, J. C., & Ridgway, S. H. (1975). Common diseases of small cetaceans. J. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc<\/em>, 167<\/em>(7), 533-540. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wong GW, Zhuo L, Kimata K, Lam BK, Satoh N, Stevens RL. Ancient originof mast cells. Biochem Biophys Res Commun (2014) 451:314\u20138. doi:10.1016\/j.bbrc.2014.07.124 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Alexa Kownacki, Ph.D. Student, OSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna Lab  While sitting\u00a0on my porch\u00a0and\u00a0watching the bees pollinate the blooming spring flowers, I intermittently pause\u00a0to scratch\u00a0the hives along my shoulders and chest.\u00a0In the middle of\u00a0my many\u00a0Zoom calls, I mute myself and stop my video because a wave of pollen hits … Continue reading “Do Dolphins Get Hives?\u201d: The Skinny on Allergies in Cetaceans<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8612,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1011750],"tags":[1310640,1211813,1310638,1310633,1310629,712828,1310650,712899,1324,1237738,2139,2310,173,1310635,635712,1310642,6686,1310632,513,1310646,1310639,155,1310636,52940,1310648,1310645,1310630,1310631,1310643,1310637,1310647,1310644],"class_list":["post-3504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bottlenose-dolphin-population-health","tag-acacia-pepper","tag-alexa-kownacki","tag-allergens","tag-allergic-reaction","tag-allergy","tag-biopsy","tag-bloom","tag-dawn-barlow","tag-ecology","tag-environmental-variables","tag-evolution","tag-fisheries-and-wildlife","tag-genetics","tag-histamines","tag-leigh-torres","tag-macules","tag-marine","tag-marine-mammal-health","tag-marine-mammals","tag-medical","tag-mucus-membranes","tag-oregon-state-university","tag-pathways","tag-physiology","tag-pollen","tag-prednisone","tag-skin","tag-skin-conditions","tag-sloughing","tag-urticaria","tag-vaccine","tag-wheals"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gemmlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gemmlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gemmlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gemmlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8612"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gemmlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3504"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gemmlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3587,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gemmlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3504\/revisions\/3587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gemmlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gemmlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gemmlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}