Overview
- Dolphin brains collected in Florida from 2010 to 2019 showed hallmark Alzheimer’s features, including amyloid plaques, tau tangles and TDP-43 inclusions.
- Dolphins stranded during bloom seasons carried up to about 2,900 times more 2,4-DAB than those found outside bloom periods, indicating strong seasonal exposure.
- Transcriptomic analysis identified 536 altered genes that mirror Alzheimer’s-related patterns in humans, including changes affecting inhibitory synapses and GAD enzymes.
- The peer-reviewed study in Communications Biology, led by University of Miami and Hubbs-SeaWorld researchers, underscores dolphins’ role as environmental sentinels and urges caution around visible blooms.
- Authors and coverage note links between more frequent blooms and warming waters with nutrient runoff, while stressing the findings are correlative and require further human health and mechanistic research.