Contents of chemical elements in tissues of European badger (<i>Meles meles</i>) affected by ovarian tumour – a case report

Bukovjan, Karel; Toman, Aleš; Kutlvašr, Karel; Marada, Petr; Kodet, Roman; Sláma, Petr; Křikava, Libor

doi:10.2754/avb201483020139

Acta Veterinaria > Archive > 2014, Vol. 83 > Issue 2 > Contents of chemical elements in tissues…

Acta Vet. Brno 2014, 83: 139-143

https://doi.org/10.2754/avb201483020139

Contents of chemical elements in tissues of European badger (Meles meles) affected by ovarian tumour – a case report

Karel Bukovjan¹, Aleš Toman², Karel Kutlvašr³, Petr Marada⁴, Roman Kodet⁵, Petr Sláma⁶, Libor Křikava³

¹Forestry and Game Management Research Institute, Strnady, Czech Republic
²Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Department of Ecology, Prague, Czech Republic
³Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Prague, Czech Republic
⁴Mendel University in Brno, Department of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Engineering, Brno, Czech Republic
⁵Charles University in Prague and University Hospital Motol, Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, 2^nd Faculty of Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic
⁶Mendel University in Brno, Department of Animal Morphology, Physiology and Genetics, Brno, Czech Republic

Higher concentrations of chemical elements in animal tissues may be associated with tumours and may explain cancerogenity. In this study, selected chemical elements were measured in the liver, kidneys, muscles and tissues affected by tumour in a dead female European badger (Meles meles) with a metastatic ovarian carcinoma. Atomic absorption spectroscopy was used for the assessment of concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, and zinc. AMA 254 analyser was used for the assessment of mercury concentration. Concentrations of heavy metals such as As, Cr, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, and total Hg amounted to 0.031, 0.16, 7.74, 44.54, 0.67, 0.67, and 0.36 mg·kg^-1 in the tumour tissue. This is the first detection of ovarian tumour in a European badger (Meles meles) which was systematically examined for the presence of chemical elements.