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. 2017 Nov 22;4(11):171433.
doi: 10.1098/rsos.171433. eCollection 2017 Nov.

1H-NMR metabolomic study of whole blood from hatchling loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) exposed to crude oil and/or Corexit

Stasia A Bembenek Bailey  1   2   3 , Jennifer N Niemuth  1   2   3 , Patricia D McClellan-Green  4 , Matthew H Godfrey  1   5   6 , Craig A Harms  1   2   3   4 , Michael K Stoskopf  1   2   3   4
Affiliations

1H-NMR metabolomic study of whole blood from hatchling loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) exposed to crude oil and/or Corexit

Stasia A Bembenek Bailey et al. R Soc Open Sci. .

Abstract

We used proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-NMR) to evaluate metabolic impacts of environmentally relevant crude oil and Corexit exposures on the physiology of hatchling loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta). Sample extraction and data acquisition methods for very small volume whole blood samples and sources of variation between individual hatchlings were assessed. Sixteen unclotted, whole blood samples were obtained from 7-day-old hatchlings after a 4-day cutaneous exposure to either control seawater, crude oil, Corexit 9500A or a combination of crude oil and Corexit 9500A. After extraction, one- and two-dimensional 1H-NMR spectra of the samples were obtained, and 17 metabolites were identified and confirmed in the whole blood spectra. Variation among samples due to the concentrations of metabolites 3-hydroxybutyrate, lactate, trimethylamine oxide and propylene glycol did not statistically correlate with treatment group. However, the characterization of the hatchling loggerhead whole blood metabolome provides a foundation for future metabolomic research with sea turtles and a basis for the study of tissues from exposed hatchling sea turtles.

Keywords: Caretta caretta; Corexit 9500A; crude oil; nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy; small volume samples; whole blood.

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Conflict of interest statement

We declare we have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Representative 1H-NMR spectrum of an individual hatchling loggerhead sea turtle. The y-axis is indicative of peak intensity. The labelled peaks are as follows: (1) 3-hydroxyisovalerate, (2) acetate, (3) formate, (4) glycolate, (5) lactate, (6) myo-inositol, (7) trimethylamine oxide, (8) creatine, (9) glucose, (10) glycerol, (11) alloisoleucine, (12) glycine, (13) 3-hydroxybutyrate, (14) 3-hydroxyisobutyrate, (15) citrate, (16) methanol, (17) propylene glycol, (18) unidentified presumed contaminant.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Representative 1H-NMR spectra of a hatchling loggerhead sea turtle from each treatment group (negative control, crude oil, Corexit and combined). The y-axis is indicative of peak intensity.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
(a) PCA summary plots (score plot (left) and loadings plot (right)) of intelligent bins of whole blood spectra of loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings exposed to crude oil (O), Corexit (R), combined (B) and negative control (C). Data were normalized and weighted by blood volume. (b) PCA summary plots (score plot (left) and loadings plot (right)) of identified spectral peaks in whole blood of loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings exposed to crude oil (O), Corexit (R), combined (B) and negative control (C). Data were normalized and weighted by blood volume.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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