Iron, Copper, Zinc and Selenium Concentrations and their Interaction in Organs of White Nose Disease of Raccoon Dogs

摘要

While the etiology of White Nose Disease (WND) is still uncertain, trace elements have been postulated to play a role. The purpose of this study is to determine the concentrations of Fe, Cu, Zn and Se in the liver, heart, lung, spleen, kidney and muscle of WND raccoon dogs and clarify whether changes of those trace elements are related to the disease. We measured concentrations of these trace elements in various organs in both WND and WND-free (control) groups, using flame atomic absorption spectroscopy for Fe, Cu and Zn and fluorometric method with 2,3-diaminonaphthalene for Se. Compared with the controls, the concentrations of liver, lung and muscle Fe were significantly lower in the WND group (p<0.05). Copper concentration in the lung was also significantly lower (p<0.05) in the WND group, but the levels in the spleen and muscle were significantly higher (p<0.05). While the spleen and lung levels of Zn were significantly lower (p<0.05) in the of WND group, the heart level was significantly higher (p<0.05). In comparison with controls, the lung, kidney and muscle levels of Se in the WND group were significantly lower. The correlations of the different trace element concentrations were statistically analyzed between each pair of tissues. The most frequent correlations were found for Cu-Zn within some tissues, especially in the lung. Interestingly, no correlation exists between metal concentrations was found in the liver. Abnormalities in the contents of the selected trace elements were observed, which revealed some imbalances in the inter-element relations in some organs of the WND infected raccoon dogs. These results suggest that t trace element contents and their homeostasis are disturbed in WND infected raccoon dogs. The WND raccoon dogs were either deficient in iron or in selenium, or deficient in both.