PMID- 15804511
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20050802
LR  - 20131121
IS  - 0016-6480 (Print)
IS  - 0016-6480 (Linking)
VI  - 141
IP  - 3
DP  - 2005 May 1
TI  - Postnatal ontogeny of erythropoietin and hematology in free-ranging Steller sea 
      lions (Eumetopias jubatus).
PG  - 240-7
AB  - The hormone erythropoietin (EPO) is responsible for the increased production of 
      red blood cells (RBC) in response to tissue hypoxia. While the role of EPO in 
      hematological development has been established in humans and terrestrial mammals, 
      this relationship has never been examined in marine mammals that rely heavily on 
      stored oxygen to maintain aerobic metabolism while diving. Since blood is the 
      major oxygen storage site in marine mammals, it was hypothesized that EPO may 
      have a significant influence on the development of hematology parameters 
      associated with the expansion of blood oxygen stores during development. To 
      explore this hypothesis, serum EPO concentrations were determined by 
      radioimmunoassay in 235 free-ranging Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus), 
      throughout their Alaskan range. Hematocrit (Hct), hemoglobin (Hb), and red blood 
      cell (RBC) counts were also measured, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin content 
      (MCHC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCV) 
      values determined. Erythropoietin and most hematological parameters varied with 
      age. Hematocrit, Hb, RBC, and MCHC decreased after birth, reached their lowest 
      values at two to three months of age, and then increased to values similar to 
      those of adults by five months of age. Since changes in Hct and Hb account for 
      the majority of the changes in blood oxygen stores and EPO was negatively 
      correlated with both, it appears that EPO may play an important role in blood 
      development of Steller sea lions, similar to previous studies on terrestrial 
      mammals.
FAU - Richmond, Julie P
AU  - Richmond JP
AD  - University of Alaska Anchorage, 3211 Providence Dr., Anchorage, AK 99518, USA. 
      Julie.Richmond@uconn.edu
FAU - Burns, Jennifer M
AU  - Burns JM
FAU - Rea, Lorrie D
AU  - Rea LD
FAU - Mashburn, Kendall L
AU  - Mashburn KL
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - United States
TA  - Gen Comp Endocrinol
JT  - General and comparative endocrinology
JID - 0370735
RN  - 11096-26-7 (Erythropoietin)
RN  - S88TT14065 (Oxygen)
SB  - IM
MH  - Age Factors
MH  - Alaska
MH  - Animals
MH  - Diving/physiology
MH  - Erythropoietin/*blood
MH  - Hematocrit
MH  - Oxygen/blood
MH  - Radioimmunoassay
MH  - Sea Lions/*blood/growth & development
EDAT- 2005/04/05 09:00
MHDA- 2005/08/03 09:00
CRDT- 2005/04/05 09:00
PHST- 2004/08/30 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2005/01/10 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2005/01/11 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2005/04/05 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2005/08/03 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2005/04/05 09:00 [entrez]
AID - S0016-6480(05)00007-9 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.ygcen.2005.01.004 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Gen Comp Endocrinol. 2005 May 1;141(3):240-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2005.01.004.