ALL ABOUT UNA SALUD/ ONE HEALTH PROGRAM

​​In July 2010,  FUCOBI Foundation (Ecuador) and IMSEGI (USA) began to carry out a pilot study of the projects of UNA SALUD / ONE HEALTH program in Ecuador. Students from Boston College, Tufts University, students from Universidad Técnica de Machala, UPSE, and colleges from New Jersey and Massachusetts joined the scientific expedition for a month along the Ecuadorian coast, collecting biodiversity samples of mangroves, shrimp, shell, crab, and fish in the five coastal provinces of Ecuador (Esmeraldas, Manabí, Santa Elena, Guayas and El Oro). The aim was to create databases that contain phenotypic and genotypic information of the species to be analyzed. The UNA SALUD / ONE HEALTH program in Ecuador is part of the international IMSEGI initiative led by Dr Alcivar-Warren that focuses on the holistic theme of ONE HEALTH "Conserving healthy ecosystems, to produce and maintain healthy animals, and protect human health long-term ".

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In each place, we spoke with the people of the communities, leaders, and representatives of non-governmental organizations, NGOs, to learn about the reality of these coastal ecosystems. In addition, we carried out biochemical blood tests on the inhabitants of communities located near mangrove areas to determine the health indices, presence of heavy metals, and persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The preliminary results are being used to write projects for international organizations to finance the program in the long run.  

FUCOBI volunteers come from diverse backgrounds and include student and community groups, teens, adults, and various professionals. No matter what your talents are, if you want to volunteer for the conservation of BIODIVERSITY, we have a place for you!

Learn more about our
​ SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION

UNA SALUD / ONE HEALTH GOals

1. Estimate the genetic diversity of wild shrimp.

2. Determine the prevalence of diseases (IHHNV, WSSV, TSV)

3. Monitor the pollutant load.

4. Model the interactions between the health status of the habitat / intensity of cropping systems and the prevalence of diseases / presence of pollutants.

WHAT IS THE ONE HEALTH / UNA SALUD PROGRAM Epigenomics & Microbiomes: Somos lo que comemos / We are what we eat ABOUT? 

MangroveENCODE

It includes the characterization of biodiversity, endocrine disruptors (or EDCs, for its acronym in English of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals) as metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs, such as PCBs and PAHs) in sediments / soils, mangroves, waters and aquatic species, and the mechanisms of bioaccumulation of POPs.

ShrimpENCODE

Includes genomic biology, disease diagnosis, immune response, proteomics, and epigenetics of shrimp, fish, and mollusks.

ChildrenENCODE

It includes human diseases associated with the consumption of fish and shellfish that contain low levels of EDCs (cadmium and POPs) including metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and allergies to shellfish, among others.

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ONE HEALTH / UNA SALUD – A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO FOOD SECURITY 

Acacia Alcivar-Warren1-3, Mayra Galindo1,4, Pedro Andrade1, Diego Alejandro1, Giomar Ramirez1, Miriam Alcivar1, Oscar Jean5, Chelsea Hogan6, Christian Saltos7, Jorge Tello7, Jacob Nikolajczyk1, Gober Asuncion1, John Eaton6, Daniela Espinoza1, Michal Plocienniczak2, Shana Singh3, Serena Moseman-Valtierra8, Carlos Mejia1, Gabriel Trueba9, Manuel Baldeon9, Marco Fornisini9, Barbara S. Nikolajczyk1, Jonathan Kenny6, Jennifer Warren3, Ana Oliveira3, Richard Duque7, Julio Jaramillo5, Andres Espinoza1, Alexandra Penafiel1, Laura Hake2

1UNA SALUD/ONE HEALTH Program, Fundacion para la Conservacion de Biodiversidad Acuatica y Terrestre de Ecuador (FUCOBI), Guayaquil, Ecuador; 2Biology Department, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA; 3Environmental Genomics, Inc., Southborough, MA 01772 USA, 4Fundacion Mosquera, Quito, Ecuador; 5Escuela de Gestion Ambiental, Universidad Tecnica de Machala (UTM), Machala, Ecuador; 6Department of Chemistry, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA;7Universidad Estatal Peninsula de Santa Elena (UPSE), Santa Elena, Ecuador; 8University of Rhode Island (URI), Kingston, RI; 9Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), Quito, Ecuador; E-mail: [email protected]

Biodiversity of healthy ecosystems is linked to food security and human health. Trace concentrations of potential endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) such as heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have been reported in shellfish, fish, seawater and sediment from estuarine mangroves of Ecuador. Consumption of POP-containing fish, chlorinated pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), in particular, has been found strongly linked to the development of metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, obesity and diabetes type 2. Cadmium (Cd) exposure is also associated with diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and children with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes such as learning disabilities. To understand the relationship between health status of marine ecosystems and human health, long-term biomonitoring studies are essential to understand the relationship. In 2010, the FUCOBI Foundation launched the UNA SALUD/ONE HEALTH project, a 10-year, integrated holistic program aimed at conserving healthy ecosystems (i.e. mangroves), to maintain healthy animals (shellfish/fish), to protect human health long term. One major goal of the ONE HEALTH project is to catalogue the extension and distribution of species biodiversity both at the taxonomic and molecular level. Analysis of the relationships between biodiversity and the pollutant load in mangrove sediment and local fauna (including humans) will establish associations between seemingly disparate ends of the ecological continuum. We work with local communities, educating them about mangrove conservation and pollution, to maintain healthy local consumer seafood thus protect human health. In 2011 we (1) hosted the "Second International Meeting on UNA SALUD/ONE HEALTH" on June 30, 2011 at the USFQ in Quito, Ecuador with special guest, Dr. Barbara S. Nikolajczyk of Boston University, featuring an outstanding presentation entitled “Do immune system changes explain the link between type 2 diabetes and environmental contaminants?" and offered graduate training opportunities for Ecuadorian students and researchers, and (2) continued collection of samples and performed basic research to establish the FUCOBI's biodiversity and pollutant databases. Other meeting topics included reports on our projects related to the biological, environmental, cultural and economical value of mangrove forests; annotated bibliography on health status, biodiversity and pollutant load of mangroves from Ecuador and worldwide; viral disease prevalence in wild shrimp of Ecuador; the role of transposable elements (Tes) in infectious and non-infectious shrimp viruses, the shrimp genome, evolution of viruses; antibiotic resistance; shrimp genetic diversity; POPs (PCBs, PAHs) in sediment and shrimp, and preliminary results on blood cell counts and chemistry parameters (glucose, uric acid, creatinine, cholesterol, triglycerides) and their potential association with eating habits of 403 people living along the coast of Ecuador. A hypothesis on the potential link between environmental contaminants and the high incidence of congenital malformations and diabetes in the Santa Elena peninsula was also presented.

FUCOBI collaborators, including high school and college students from USA and Ecuador participated in 2011 research activities. These included (a) collection of shrimp samples and accompanying biodiversity in estuarine mangroves, and (b) preparation of comprehensive literature review about the health status of Ecuadorian mangroves in Ecuador including nutrients and contaminants such as heavy metals and POPs in both mangrove plants and sediments worldwide. Sediment contamination levels varied in El Oro and Guayas provinces of Ecuador and are of concern to aquatic species and human health. Mangrove sediment levels of nitrite, nitrate, phosphate and heavy metals varied among and between sites. Phosphate levels in sediment from Bajo Alto, El Oro province were the highest among all sites tested so far. Bajo Alto is located near banana plantations and other agroindustries, and is the same site where UTM professor Cesar Valarezo and his collaborators detected seawater levels of Cd and lead above the accepted limits by the Ministry of the Environment of Ecuador. They found variable metal levels in conch and sediment, some of which are above the maximum allowed levels by national and international agencies and may represent both endocrine and toxicity risk to shrimp and human health. We detected variable levels of ~30 metals in Litopenaeus vannamei shrimp from the five coastal provinces of Ecuador. We are compiling a database on metals and POPs present in human blood and hair. Blood samples from people living along the coast were collected for heavy metals and POP analyses (results pending) and isolation of nucleic acids and proteins for future epidemiological and epigenetics studies.

A brief summary will be presented of on-going review of the literature on the association of environmental contaminants (Cd, POPs) with obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes, the link between dioxin receptor aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and diabetes/glucose metabolism, the induction of LINE-1 retrotransposon by AhR, the role of Tes in genes involved in the hyperglycemia pathway, and the link between LINE-1 expression and the ligand of AhR. The information will be used to prepare grant proposals in support of our ONE HEALTH goals. Shrimp tissue samples will show species differentiation using mitochondrial (D-loop, 16s rRNA) and nuclear (allergens, LINE-1) DNA markers. These measures will also allow commodity shrimp traceability from shrimp sold in US supermarkets using Parallel Factor Analysis with Soft Independent Modeling of Class Analogy (PARAFAC-SIMCA) scores. We search for polymorphisms in allergy-causing genes to develop a hypoallergenic shrimp line and biomarkers of exposure to high and low levels of pollutants. Information will be presented on FUCOBI’s program for 2012 and welcome the new ONE HEALTH national and international collaborators that will study the role of pollutants (metals and POPs) on the induction of Tes, the potential involvement of these pollutants on immune system changes in people with obesity and diabetes, and the increased incidence of congenital malformations.

Source: https://www.was.org/WASMeetings/Meetings/ShowAbstract.aspx?Id=25803