The significance of environmental factors in the hormone mediated changes of nasal (salt) gland activity in birds

doi:10.1016/0016-6480(72)90169-4

General and Comparative Endocrinology

Volume 3, Supplement, 1972, Pages 393-404

https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-6480(72)90169-4 Get rights and content

Abstract

The relative importance of environmental pressures on the regulatory demands of the extrarenal (salt gland) excretory route to maintain homeostasis in birds is now becoming known through the experimental approach in which individual natural stresses have been examined in their effect on the hormonal status of the bird. Attempts have been made to interpret these changes in terms of salt gland activity, and emerging from the approach is the view that hormones are involved at possibly three levels within the body viz. directly on the gland at the cellular level, systemically via hormonally induced changes which secondarily affect salt gland activity and finally as a result of hormonal changes which have their basis in behavioral adjustments. The present state of our knowledge is discussed with respect to corticosteroids, thyroxine, ACTH, prolactin and AVT in relation to hypersalinity, heat, cold and water deprivation.

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Influences of sex and saline intake on diurnal changes in plasma melatonin and osmoregulatory hormones of Pekin ducks (Anas platyrhynchos)
2006, General and Comparative Endocrinology
Melatonin (MT) inhibits salt gland secretion of Pekin ducks [Ching, A.C.T., Hughes, M.R., Poon, A.M.S., Pang, S.F., 1999. Melatonin receptors and melatonin inhibition of duck salt gland secretion. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 116, 229–240]. The present study examined simultaneous diurnal changes in plasma concentrations of MT and four osmoregulatory hormones of Pekin ducks to assess the possible interactions among these hormones that might contribute to inhibition of extrarenal salt secretion. The study compared diurnal changes in freshwater (FW) and saline-acclimated (SA) male and female ducks. We hypothesized plasma concentrations of osmoregulatory hormones: (1) differ between sexes (partially accepted); (2) vary diurnally (accepted, influenced by sex and treatment); (3) are correlated with MT (partially accepted); and their diurnal variation is affected by (4) sex (partially accepted); and (5) saline acclimation (partially accepted). We compared body mass, plasma osmolality (Osm_pl), plasma volume, concentrations of plasma ions, and arginine vasotocin (AVT), angiotensin II (AII), prolactin, (PRL), and aldosterone (ALDO), in relation to plasma melatonin (MT). At night body mass increased in FW ducks and decreased in SA ducks. This likely reflects the higher plasma PRL concentration of female ducks and its middark increase only in SA ducks. Plasma volume increased at night in all but FW males. Plasma sodium and osmolality were higher in SA ducks and did not vary diurnally in either FW or SA ducks. Midday MT did not differ between males and females or between FW and SA ducks; at middark, all ducks, except FW females, increased MT. Midday AVT was higher in SA ducks. Only FW ducks increased AVT at middark. Changes in AVT and MT were positively correlated in males and negatively correlated in females. Males had higher AII and, at night, AII increased in SA ducks and decreased in FW ducks. AVT and AII were negatively correlated. ALDO was highly correlated with AII and unaffected by sex, saline, or time. At night, only AVT was elevated in FW ducks, while MT, AII, and PRL were elevated in SA ducks. FW and SA ducks appear to follow different, but equally effective, hormonal strategies to maintain osmotic homeostasis at night. We conclude that the effect of MT on salt gland secretion is probably a direct effect. These may be influenced by gender.
Adrenalectomy fails to block salt gland secretion in Pekin ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) adapted to 0.9% saline drinking water
1987, General and Comparative Endocrinology
Salt-adapted Pekin ducks were observed during 2-week period following adrenalectomy so as to test the hypothesis that NaCl secretion by the nasal salt glands depends on adrenocortical steroids. Three days after adrenalectomy the total inputs of fluid and Na⁺ during a 90-min iv infusion of 1000 mOsm/kg NaCl were 77 and 80% respectively, of those in the sham-operated controls; 7 days after adrenalectomy they were 88 and 90%. Two weeks after adrenalectomy, cardiovascular function had deteriorated slightly and the total outputs of fluid and Na⁺ had fallen to 65 and 64%, respectively, of the control outputs. The onset of cardiovascular deterioration was delayed by feeding the ducks 0.9% NaCl drinking water ad libitum for 1 month before, and 2 weeks after, adrenalectomy. Adaptive hypertrophy of the nasal salt glands was not steroid-dependent since there was no measurable decrease in the weight of the glands during a 2-week period following adrenalectomy.
Seasonal variation in size and function of the nasal salt gland of the franklin's gull (Larus pipixcan)
1984, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology -- Part A: Physiology
- 1.
  1. Extrarenal salt excretion through the nasal gland allows marine birds to drink salt water. Species inhabiting fresh water usually have small glands, although in many species studied, the glands increase in size in response to salt loads.
- 2.
  2. The Franklin's gull (Larus pipixcan) breeds in freshwater habitats and winters in marine habitats. Accordingly it shows an annual cycle in the size and function of the nasal gland. We found a large and active gland in gulls collected in April (just after arrival on the breeding ground) and in October (just prior to migration), while birds collected from late May to July had small and apparently inactive glands.
- 3.
  3. Recrudescence of the gland occurred in wild-caught adults maintained in captivity on fresh water without a salt load.
- 4.
  4. This appears to represent a cyclical phenomenon that is independent of actual salt loading.
- 5.
  5. The glandular hypertrophy produced a histological picture similar to that of adaptive hypertrophy in response to salt loading.
- 6.
  6. The increase was not inhibited by maintaining birds on a constant 16:8 light/dark cycle. This change is analagous to size changes in avian gonads.
- 7.
  7. This cyclical phenomena may preadapt the Franklin's gull's salt gland to handle the slat load it will encounter when it reaches its winter quarters on the Pacific ocean shore.
The osmoregulatory system of birds with salt glands
1982, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology -- Part A: Physiology
Endocrinology of salt glond function
1982, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology -- Part A: Physiology
The effect of extreme cold stress on nasal gland secretion in the domestic duck, Anas platyrhynchos
1976, General and Comparative Endocrinology
Cold stress at −10° produced a response from the nasal gland of the water-loaded duck; however, this was more dilute than the normal salt gland secretion, being approximately isotonic. Cold in combination with a hypertonic saline load caused a marked increase in salt gland secretion, but this change was accompanied by symptoms of dehydration, i.e., fall in plasma and muscle water, E.C.F.V., and a rise in haematocrit. During cold stress a fall in the pituitary prolactin level was observed, together with a rise in ¹³¹I uptake by the thyroid gland, but no rise in plasma corticosterone levels was observed.

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^∗: Present address: Dept. of Zoology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom.

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The significance of environmental factors in the hormone mediated changes of nasal (salt) gland activity in birds

Abstract

Develop. Biol

Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. Suppl

Comp. Biochem. Physiol

J. Endocrinol

Compt. Rendu., Paris

J. Endocrinol

J. Endocrinol

J. Endocrinol

J. Endocrinol

J. Endocrinol

J. Cell Biol

J. Exp. Biol

J. Physiol