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Biomedical subjects

G R Gardner

Publications and source records attributed to G R Gardner.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Vitellogenin-induced pathology in male summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus).

Male summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) were given two injections (initially and 2 weeks later) of 17beta-estradiol (E2) totaling 0.2 (2 x 0.1), 2.0 (2 x 1.0) or 20.0 (2 x 10.0) mg E2/kg body weight. Blood and tissue samples were collected 4, 6 and 8 weeks after the initial injection in the (2 x 0.1) mg/kg treatment, 4, 6, 8, and 15 weeks after the first injection in the (2 x 1.0) mg/kg treatment and at 4 weeks only in the (2 x 10.0) mg/kg treatment. Five of the 12 fish injected twice with 10.0 mg/kg were moribund before the first sampling period. Circulating levels of vitellogenin (VTG) in the blood of all E2-injected fish from all treatments were comparable with those concentrations found in the blood of wild male carp (Cyprinus carpio) and walleye (Stezostedion vitreum) previously collected near a sewage treatment plant (0.1-10.0 mg VTG/ml plasma). Excessive hyalin material accumulated in the livers, kidneys and testes of the treated fish. A portion of that material was identified as VTG by immunohistochemistry. The accumulation of VTG, and possibly other estrogen-inducible proteins, resulted in hepatocyte hypertrophy, disruption of spermatogenesis, and obstruction or rupture of renal glomeruli.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Effects of estrogenic (o,p'-DDT; octylphenol) and anti-androgenic (p,p'-DDE) chemicals on indicators of endocrine status in juvenile male summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus).

Laboratory experiments were conducted with male summer flounder to assess the value of selected measures of endocrine status in fish as indicators of exposure to endocrine-disrupting contaminants. Effects of 1,1,1-trichloro-2-(p-chlorophenyl)-2-(o-chlorophenyl) ethane (o,p'-DDT), octylphenol and 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl) ethylene (p,p'-DDE) on hepatosomatic and gonadosomatic indices, plasma steroid hormone levels, vitellogenin production, and gonadal development were evaluated in laboratory-raised, juvenile male summer flounder. Flounder were injected twice with test chemical in a coconut oil carrier. Each chemical was tested at three different concentrations. Estrogenic (o,p'-DDT; octylphenol) and anti-androgenic (p,p'-DDE) chemicals were evaluated alone and in combination (octylphenol plus o,p'-DDT or p,p'-DDE). Additionally, some fish were treated with the natural ligand for the estrogen receptor, 17beta-estradiol. Blood and tissues from different fish in each treatment were sampled 4, 6 and 8 weeks after the first injection. Fish exposed to a combination of o,p'-DDT plus octylphenol were also sampled after 15 weeks. In all cases, responses of fish exposed to a test chemical were compared to control fish sampled at the same time. The following significant differences, relative to controls, were observed in at least one sampling time or at least one concentration of chemical. 17beta-Estradiol-treated flounder exhibited decreased gonadosomatic index (GSI), altered hepatosomatic index (HSI), elevated plasma estradiol, reduced plasma testosterone, and high levels of plasma vitellogenin. Fish treated with o,p'-DDT showed lower GSI, no change in HSI or plasma estradiol, depression of plasma testosterone, and induction of vitellogenesis. Octylphenol treatment resulted in lower GSI, no change in HSI, initially increased plasma estradiol and decreased testosterone, and no vitellogenin production. p,p'-DDE treatment did not significantly alter any indicator relative to controls. In experiments using combinations of chemicals, flounder receiving o,p'-DDT plus octylphenol had lower GSI after 8 weeks and elevated plasma estradiol after 15 weeks exposure. Fish treated with p,p'-DDE plus octylphenol for 8 weeks exhibited a significantly lower GSI. Overall, lower GSI and plasma testosterone levels, relative to controls, were consistent indicators of exposure to estrogenic chemicals in juvenile male flounder. No indicators were found that would identify exposure to the mammalian anti-androgen p,p'-DDE.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Association of prokaryotes with symptomatic appearance of withering syndrome in black abalone Haliotis cracherodii.

Withering syndrome (WS) is an epizootic fatal wasting disease that is devastating California Channel Island populations of black abalone Haliotis cracherodii. Our studies suggest a strong pathogen-disease association. The pathogen is an intracellular prokaryote that infects epithelial cells lining the gut and enzyme secreting cells of the digestive diverticula. It multiplies by binary fission in round to oval, basophilic, membrane-bound colonies teeming in the cytoplasm. Infection of the digestive diverticula is accompanied by a complete loss of digestive enzyme granules and metaplasia of enzyme secretory cells to a morphology similar to epithelium lining the gut. Extensive infection of digestive diverticular cells and the resultant deficiency in digestive enzymes correlates to the degree of pedal muscle atrophy and the severity of signs associated with WS. Electron microscopically the intracellular pathogen is a rod-shaped, ribosome-rich, gram-negative, prokaryote with a trilaminar cell wall consistent with the order Rickettsiales. Microbiological and protozoological methods produced no patterns that implicated other types of microbes. Chemical analysis of tissue from animals from a population with WS did not support an association between WS and environmental pollutant exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, or chlorinated pesticides.

Alphaproteobacteria↗
PubMed1993

Implications for the presence of transforming genes in gonadal tumors in two bivalve mollusk species.

Studies were initiated on oncogene activation in two bivalve species with high frequencies of histologically identifiable gonadal neoplasms. Pathological assessments identified epizootic seminomas and dysgerminomas in softshell clams (Mya arenaria) from three Maine estuarine sites contaminated by herbicides and in hardshell clams (Mercenaria) from the Indian River in Florida, an area of potential citrus agrochemical exposure. NIH3T3 transfection assays were used to examine DNA isolated from these molluscan tumors for the presence of activated oncogenes. DNAs isolated from advanced tumors in both species were able to transform NIH3T3 cells in a standard focus assay. These same cells were also able to form colonies in low concentrations of serum and induce tumors in athymic mice. Cells expanded from isolated foci demonstrated anchorage-independent growth in soft agar. The results of these studies indicate that DNA from the clam tumors is able to transform mouse fibroblasts, which suggests that a transforming gene is present in these tumor cells. Studies are under way to identify the gene(s) detected by these assays.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1991

Carcinogenicity of Black Rock Harbor sediment to the eastern oyster and trophic transfer of Black Rock Harbor carcinogens from the blue mussel to the winter flounder.

The eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) developed neoplastic disorders when experimentally exposed both in the laboratory and field to chemically contaminated sediment from Black Rock Harbor (BRH), Bridgeport, Connecticut. Neoplasia was observed in oysters after 30 and 60 days of continuous exposure in a laboratory flow-through system to a 20 mg/L suspension of BRH sediment plus postexposure periods of 0, 30, or 60 days. Composite tumor incidence was 13.6% (49 neoplasms in 40, n = 295) for both exposures. Tumor occurrence was highest in the renal excretory epithelium, followed in order by gill, gonad, gastrointestinal, heart, and embryonic neural tissue. Regression of experimental neoplasia was not observed when the stimulus was discontinued. In field experiments, gill neoplasms developed in oysters deployed in cages for 30 days at BRH and 36 days at a BRH dredge material disposal area in Central Long Island Sound, and kidney and gastrointestinal neoplasms developed in caged oysters deployed 40 days in Quincy Bay, Boston Harbor. Oysters exposed to BRH sediment in the laboratory and in the field accumulated high concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and chlorinated pesticides. Chemical analyses demonstrated high concentrations of PCBs, PAHs, chlorinated pesticides, and heavy metals in BRH sediment. Known genotoxic carcinogens, co-carcinogens, and tumor promoters were present as contaminants. The uptake of parent PAH and PCBs from BRH sediment observed in oysters also occurs in blue mussels (Mytilus edulis). Winter flounder fed BRH-contaminated blue mussels contained xenobiotic chemicals analyzed in mussels. The flounder developed renal and pancreatic neoplasms and hepatotoxic neoplastic precursor lesions, demonstrating trophic transfer of sediment-bound carcinogens up the food chain.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Germinomas and teratoid siphon anomalies in softshell clams, Mya arenaria, environmentally exposed to herbicides.

Seminomas and dysgerminomas are epizootic in softshell clams, Mya arenaria, from three Maine estuaries contaminated with herbicides. The first epizootic was discovered in 22% of clams collected as Searsport near Long Cove Brook and three culverts that conveyed heating oil and jet fuel spilled from a tank farm in 1971. Data from subsequent epizootiological studies and a series of long-term experimental exposures of softshell clams to no. 2 fuel oil, JP-4, and JP-5 jet fuel at the U.S. EPA, Environmental Research Laboratory in Narragansett, Rhode Island, and in the field did not support an etiology by these petroleum products. In the two recent epizootics reported here, the germinomas have been observed in 3% of the softshell clams collected from Roque Bluffs near Machiasport and from 35% of softshell clams collected from Dennysville. Mya collected at Dennysville had pericardial mesotheliomas and teratoid siphon anomalies in addition to gonadal neoplasms. Estuaries at Dennysville had been contaminated by herbicides in a 1979 accidental spray overdrift during aerial application of Tordon 101 to adjacent forests. Further investigation determined widespread use of the herbicides Tordon 101, 2,4-D,2,4,5-T, and other agrochemicals in an extensive forestry and blueberry industry in both the Roque Bluffs and the Dennysville areas. Herbicide applications at Searsport were confirmed for railroad property bordering Long Cove estuary and for Long Cove Brook adjacent to the estuary where a highway department reportedly cleans its spray equipment. Herbicide contamination is the only common denominator identified at all three sites where Mya have been found with gonadal neoplasms.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗