8 ± 2.8 ppb, n = 21 and 8.4 ± 6.7 ppb, n = 75, respectively; P = 0.30). However, C1 had significantly GSK-3 phosphorylation higher exhaled postprandial NO compared to the controls (34.9 ± 28.1 ppb, n = 9 and 13.9 ± 9 ppb, n = 36; P = 0.0004). C2, a 27 yr old female dolphin

with a chronic coccidioidomycosis infection of the lung, did not have any differences in exhaled NO during the fasted or postprandial states compared to the controls (P = 0.18 and 0.12, respectively). In the current study, dolphin exhaled breath samples contained NO, and these levels were higher than outside air. There are two previous publications that mention NO in marine mammals. Falke et al. (2008) did not find NO in the exhaled breath of freely diving Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii), and Schedin (1997) mentions breath collection from two bottlenose dolphins and indicated that NO higher than ambient air was not found. The absence of NO selleck chemical in the exhaled breath of Weddell seals is likely due to their lack of paranasal sinuses where NO is produced in other mammals (Lewandowski et al. 1998, Falke et al. 2008). It is not readily apparent why NO levels from Schedin’s dolphin breath study were not higher than

ambient air, and no information on breath hold duration or feeding state was available. Nitric oxide has been indirectly measured in harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) blood by measuring nitrate and nitrite, the precursors to NO (Soegaard et al. 2012). Nitrite and nitrate concentrations in the blood were found to be elevated yet variable, consistent with the elevation and variability of NO measured in the breath of bottlenose dolphins in this study. As NO is involved in many biochemical pathways, particularly pathways initiated by hypoxia, it may be interesting to assess NO concentrations separately due to inflammatory responses vs. diving responses. In the current study, nitric

oxide was detected in the breath of three healthy adult dolphins at levels ranging from 1.9 to 80.3 ppb. Examples of previously reported NO exhaled breath values among healthy humans are 8.8 ± 3 ppb for adults and from 7.3 to 9.9 ppb for children between 6 and 15 yr old (Kharitonov et al. 1995, Baraldi et al. 1999). Using the current breath collection methodology, the high variation of NO found in the exhaled breath of dolphins likely limits learn more its utility as a clinical indicator of health and disease states. Extensive effort has gone into standardizing NO breath measurements in humans, and it is likely that further standardization is needed for cetaceans. Despite the high variation of NO levels, this study indicated that fed dolphins had significantly higher NO in breath compared to when they fasted 12–14 h overnight. Diet may be a primary driver of this finding. Dolphins in this study were fed primarily fish, herring, capelin and smaller amounts of squid. All three of these food types have high levels of amino acids including arginine, a precursor of NO (Deas and Tarr 1949, Bano et al. 1992).