Characterization of Alpha-fetoprotein Levels in Three Dolphin Species: Development of Sensitive Immunoassays for Analysis of the Pregnancy-associated Variations

A single radial immunodiffusion (SRID) assay and a chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA) were initially developed for alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) of the striped dolphin. Utilizing these developed assays, we investigated pregnancy-associated changes in the levels of AFP in the sera of fetuses and pregnant females of three dolphin species; samples were either collected from captive individuals or obtained as fishery by-products. The concentrations of AFP in the fetal serum ranged from 419.0 to 2026.3 μg/ml in the striped dolphin, 12.6 to 1218.7 μg/ml (for an AFP equivalent; eqAFP) in the common bottlenose dolphin and 770.6 to 3129.1 μg eqAFP/ml in the Risso's dolphin. AFP levels decreased with increased fetal size in fetuses over 20 cm in length. The concentrations of AFP in sera of pregnant females ranged from 7.18 to 8068.7 ng/ml in the striped dolphin, 6.6 to 1241.1 ng eqAFP/ml in the common bottlenose dolphin and 3.4 to 2868.7 ng eqAFP/ml in the Risso's dolphin. The levels in most pregnant females were equal to or lower than those found in males and nonpregnant individuals, although a few pregnant females exhibited extremely high levels (in the range of hundreds to thousands of nanograms per milliliter). Such high levels of AFP were not observed during pseudopregnancy. To our knowledge, this is the first report on basal profiles for serum AFP levels in small odontocetes. The profiles indicated that AFP may play a significant role during embryonic development, although maternal levels do not appear to be a diagnostic biomarker for monitoring pregnancy.