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Thyroid Lesions and Dioxin Accumulation in the Livers of Jungle Crows (Corvus Macrorhynchos) in Urban and Suburban Tokyo

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Abstract

Wild jungle crows (Corvus macrorhynchos) captured from three different areas of Tokyo were examined to evaluate environmental contamination of dioxins. In addition to the pathologic examination of their whole body, accumulation of dioxins, mRNA expression of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), and pentoxyresorufin-O-depenthylase (PROD) activity in the liver were determined. Marked histopathologic changes were observed in the thyroid glands, especially in the crows from the urban downtown area. Levels of dioxins and their toxic equivalents (TEQs) and AhR mRNA expression in the livers of the crows from the urban area were higher than those from the suburban area. There was a high correlation between the levels of TEQs and PROD activity. The results of the present study demonstrated that jungle crows possess AhR-mediated toxicologic pathways similar to those of mammals and suggest the possibility that the thyroidal changes observed in the adult crows from the urban areas are one of the toxic manifestations resulting from exposure to dioxins and other environmental chemicals.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Annamalai Subramanian for critical reading of the manuscript. We are also grateful to Drs. Mitsuru Nakamura and Nagahiro Nose for kindly providing the crows. This study was supported in part by Grant-in-Aid for COE from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan. Parts of this study were conducted as “Survey on the State of Dioxin Accumulation in Wildlife” by the Ministry of the Environment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Veterinary Pathology, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 3-5-8, Saiwai-cho, Fuchu, Tokyo, 183-8509, Japan

    M. Kobayashi, Y. Kashida, N. Machida & K. Mitsumori

  2. Japan Wildlife Research Center, Taito-ku, Tokyo, 110-8676, Japan

    K. Yoneda

  3. Center for Marine Environmental Studies, Ehime University, Matsuyama, Ehime, 790-8577, Japan

    H. Iwata, M. Watanabe & S. Tanabe

  4. Medical Science Analysis Center, SRL Inc., Tachikawa, Tokyo, 190-0023, Japan

    H. Fukatsu

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  1. M. Kobayashi
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  2. Y. Kashida
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Correspondence to Y. Kashida.

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Kobayashi, M., Kashida, Y., Yoneda, K. et al. Thyroid Lesions and Dioxin Accumulation in the Livers of Jungle Crows (Corvus Macrorhynchos) in Urban and Suburban Tokyo. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 48, 424–432 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-004-0101-5

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