Disease relevance of Svalbard

• Desulfotomaculum arcticum sp. nov., a novel spore-forming, moderately thermophilic, sulfate-reducing bacterium isolated from a permanently cold fjord sediment of Svalbard [1].
• It has been suggested that an enzyme defect (21-hydroxylase deficiency), androgen producing tumour or high exposure to organochlorines during the foetal stage or early development could be the reason for the supposed pseudohermaphroditism observed for Svalbard bears [2].
• Prevalence of Brucella pinnipediae in healthy hooded seals (Cystophora cristata) from the North Atlantic Ocean and ringed seals (Phoca hispida) from Svalbard [3].
• Acute disseminated toxoplasmosis was diagnosed in three wild arctic foxes (Alopex lagopus) that were found dead in the same locality on Svalbard (Norway) [4].

High impact information on Svalbard

• Limited polymorphism was found in the moose, roe deer, and reindeer from Svalbard, whereas intermediate to extensive DRB diversity was present in reindeer from Norway and in bison, sheep, goat, cattle, and red deer [5].
• Growth of young sporophytes of the brown algae Laminaria digitata, L. saccharina and L. solidungula from Spitsbergen were measured in the laboratory after being exposed for 21 days to either photosynthetically active radiation (PAR = P) or to full light spectrum (PAR + UV-A + UV-B = PAB) using of cutoff glass filters [6].
• Thirteen psychrophilic sulfate-reducing isolates from two permanently cold fjords of the Arctic island Spitsbergen (Hornsund and Storfjord) were phylogenetically analyzed [7].
• Long-range atmospheric pesticide transport to Svalbard from Eurasia is influenced by the positive state of the North Atlantic Oscillation Index since 1980 and also by occasional fast-moving summer air masses from northern Eurasian croplands [8].
• An intensive international springtime mercury experiment was performed at Ny-Alesund, Spitsbergen, from 19 April to 13 May 2003 to study the atmospheric mercury chemistry in the Arctic environment and, in particular, the MDEs which occurred in the arctic boundary layer after polar sunrise [9].

Biological context of Svalbard

• Genetic polymorphism at Mhc class II DRB loci was investigated in samples of musk-ox from Canada and Greenland; moose from Sweden, Norway, Canada, and Alaska; roe deer from Norway and Sweden; reindeer from Svalbard and Norway; fallow deer from Norway and Sweden; and red deer from Norway [5].
• Gonadal size, spermatogenesis, egg production, height of the supraorbital comb, moult, and plasma luteinizing hormone (LH) levels were measured during an annual cycle in wild Svalbard ptarmigans (Lagopus mutus hyperboreus) [10].
• Recent levels of technetium-99 in seawater at the west coast of Svalbard [11].
• Lithium carbonate lengthens the circadian period of body temperature and sleep-wakefulness in humans under temporal isolation (arctic conditions in Svalbard, 79 degrees N) in two out of four groups [12].

Associations of Svalbard with chemical compounds

• Seasonal and daily variations in plasma melatonin in the high-arctic Svalbard ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus hyperboreus) [13].
• Populations in South Hudson Bay (2000-2730 ng/g wet wt), East Greenland (911-2140 ng/g wet wt), and Svalbard (756-1290 ng/g wet wt) had significantly (P < 0.05) higher PFOS concentrations than western populations such as the Chukchi Sea (435-729 ng/g wet wt) [14].
• Arctic foxes (Alopex lagopus) were collected from Greenland and Svalbard (N = 319) [15].
• However, maximum plasma LH levels and comb size were higher in free-living than in captive Svalbard ptarmigan [16].
• Chlorinated bornanes (toxaphene) followed a similar trend, but levels were also high near Spitsbergen and in the Greenland Sea [17].

Gene context of Svalbard

• To test these markers in an unselected population, gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT), and mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase (mAST) were measured in the Norwegian population, 310 males and 171 females, aged 18 to 60 years, living at Svalbard [18].
• PCB concentrations in polar bear show a strong west to east trend with higher levels in east Greenland, Svalbard [19].
• Comparison with free-living Svalbard ptarmigan (K.-A. Stokkan, P. J. Sharp, and S. Unander (1986) Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 61, 446-451) at 80 degrees N, showed a similar slow increase in reproductive function before the onset of the breeding season [16].
• We found a substantial spatial heterogeneity in the decapod crustacean Pandalus borealis, with increasing Cd concentrations from the south (North Cape Bank; 0.7 mg kg(-1) DW) to the north (north of Svalbard; 4.7 mg kg(-1)), supporting the hypothesis that the frequently reported Cd-anomaly in polar crustaceans might be extended to the Barents Sea [20].
• Plasma concentrations of Triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4) and growth hormone (GH) have been measured in blood samples taken from Svalbard ptarmigans (Lagopus mutus hyperboreus), shot throughout 1 whole year at Svalbard (79 degrees N) [21].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Svalbard

• Concentrations of vitamins A1 (retinol), A2 (3,4-didehydroretinol) and E (alpha-tocopherol) in the liver and blubber of ringed seals from Lake Saimaa (Phoca hispida saimensis), Lake Ladoga (P. h. ladogensis), the Baltic Sea (P. h. botnica) and Spitsbergen (P. h. hispida) were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography [22].
• Immobilization of Norwegian reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) and Svalbard Reindeer (R. t. platyrhynchus) with medetomidine and medetomidine-ketamine and reversal of immobilization with atipamezole [23].

References