Myelograms of Marsh (Pelophylax ridibundus) and Pool (Pelophylax lessonae) Frogs (Amphibia: Ranidae) from Conventionally “Intact” Resevoir of Nizhni Novgorod Region and from Reservoir Transformed by Human Activity

Abstract

Abstract—A comparative study of marsh and pool frog myelograms showed that the erythropoietic activity of bone marrow was higher in amphibians from conventionally “intact” areas (group 1) than in those from urbanized territories (group 2). The amphibians’ adaptive response to contamination of the aquatic environment involved restructuring of the cellular composition in the bone marrow and myeloid cell activation. Variability of the responses of individual myelopoietic elements reflected the plasticity of the compensatory capacity of the organism. Overall, adaptive reactions were common for two sympatric amphibian species, but interspecific differences were manifested as hematopoiesis activation in pool frogs. A strong statistically significant relationship between the integral index of amphibian myelograms and the content of iron (r = –0.81, p = 0.04), chlorides (r = 0.88, p = 0.01), sulfates (r = 0.88, p = 0.018), and petrochemicals (r = 0.89, p = 0.015) in the water was revealed.