Tissue-specific assessment of oxidative status: Wild boar as a case study

In recent decades, there has been a fast-growing interest in using biomarkers of oxidative stress (BOS) in conservation programs of many vertebrate species. Biomarkers of oxidative stress can be measured in different biological samples (e.g., body fluids and tissues). However, since comparisons of the same battery of BOS among tissues of the same individual are scarce in the literature, the chosen target tissues regularly rely on arbitrary decisions. Our research aimed to determine if the oxidative status of free-ranging wild boar (Sus scrofa) naturally infected with Mycobacterium spp (etiological agent of tuberculosis, TB), varies depending on the sample where it was quantified. We compared antioxidant p-nitrophenyl esterase activity (EA), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) concentrations, and total oxidative status (TOS) in serum, lung, spleen, kidney, and muscle of 63 wild boar hunter-harvested in central Spain. Biomarkers of oxidative stress in serum had higher concentrations than in other tissues. The poor agreement between serum and other tissues highlights the importance of running complete BOS assessments in the same fluid or tissue. Further, low concentrations of BOS in tissues of TB-affected individuals were observed, and significant differences between healthy and sick boar were only detected in the serum of individuals developing mild TB and in the muscle of individuals with mild or severe disease status. However, all organs from wild boars affected with mild TB were not in oxidative imbalance compared to healthy control animals, suggesting that wild boars may cope well with TB. Our data indicate that serum and other tissues can be used as BOS in field conservation programs to monitor wildlife population health. Still, context-specific validations are needed to determine the most appropriate samples to use.