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The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the Fundacion Oceanografic in Valencia, Spain, funding the project.

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Rubio-Guerri, ConsueloCorresponding Author

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May 27, 2024
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Physiological values of phagocytic capacity in marine mammals and alterations during pathological situations

Publicated to:Frontiers In Veterinary Science. 11 1389977- - 2024-05-02 11(), DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1389977

Authors: Felipo-Benavent, M; Martinez-Romero, A; Valls, M; Rojo-Solis, C; Alvaro, T; Garcia-Parraga, D; Rubio-Guerri, C; O'Connor, JE

Affiliations

Avanqua Oceanograf SL Oceanograf, Vet Serv, Valencia, Spain - Author
CEU Univ, Univ Cardenal Herrera CEU, Fac Hlth Sci, Dept Biomed Sci, Valencia, Spain - Author
CEU Univ, Univ CEU Cardenal Herrera, Fac Hlth Sci, Dept Pharm, Valencia, Spain - Author
Fdn Oceanograf Comunitat Valenciana, Res Dept, Ciencias, Valencia, Spain - Author
Principe Felipe Res Ctr, Cyt Technol Serv, Valencia, Spain - Author
Univ Valencia, Dept Biochem & Mol Biol, Joint Res Unit CIPF UVEG, Lab Cyt, Valencia, Spain - Author
Univ Valencia, Fac Med, Dept Biochem & Mol Biol, Lab Cyt, Valencia, Spain - Author
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Abstract

The study of the immune function in marine mammals is essential to understand their physiology and can help to improve their welfare in the aquariums. Dedicating efforts to studying marine mammal physiology, pathophysiology, and implementing new diagnostic and therapeutic tools promote progress towards preventive medicine in aquariums by facilitating early detection and treatment of diseases. However, biological and clinical research on marine mammals is currently very limited due to difficult access to these species and their biological samples. With this objective, our group has adapted to marine mammals a commercially available assay routinely used to evaluate the phagocytic capacity of monocytes and granulocytes in human whole blood samples. We adapted IngoflowEx kit to bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas), walruses (Odobenus rosmarus), Patagonian sea lions (Otaria flavescens), and harbor (Phoca vitulina). In this paper, we report the modifications carried out on the original protocol for their correct functioning in marine mammals. We obtained physiological values of phagocytic capacity in each species after repeated sampling for 4 years in various individuals of each species. Specific results revealed that the % phagocytic cells that ingested E.coli in bottlenose dolphins were 59.6 +/- 1.27, in walruses 62.6 +/- 2.17, in sea lions 57.5 +/- 4.3, and in beluga whales 61.7 +/- 1.4. In the case of the % phagocytic cells producing respiratory burst in bottlenose dolphins were 34.2 +/- 3.6, in walruses 36.3 +/- 4.3, in sea lions 40.8 +/- 10.2, and in beluga whales 26.3 +/- 3.7. These preliminary results can be used as a reference to detect alterations in phagocytic capacity either by immunosuppression or by exacerbation of the response in infectious inflammatory processes. Clinical applicability of the assay was verified in two clinical cases in which Ingoflow was useful to detect immune alterations in two diseased individuals, before and after the onset of clinical signs.

Keywords

BelugaBottle-nosed dolphinsCellDolphinsFlow-cytometryImmune dysfunctionImpacLeukocytesMarine mammalsMetabolitesPhagocytosisRespiratory burstSeaSea lionSealStressTursiops-truncatusWalrus

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Frontiers In Veterinary Science due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2024 there are still no calculated indicators, but in 2023, it was in position 19/170, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Veterinary Sciences.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2025-08-02:

  • WoS: 1
  • Scopus: 1

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-08-02:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 4.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 3 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 5.15.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 7 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Rubio Guerri, Consuelo.