Emerging investigator series: nontargeted screening of aryl hydrocarbon receptor agonists in endangered beluga whales from the St. Lawrence Estuary: beyond legacy contaminants†

The elevated concentrations of organohalogen contaminants in the endangered St. Lawrence Estuary (SLE) belugas have prompted the hypothesis that aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) activity may be a contributor towards their potential adverse effects. While indirect associations between AhR and contaminant levels have been reported in SLE beluga tissues, AhR activity was never directly measured. Using bioassays and nontargeted analysis, this study contrasted AhR activity and agonist profiles between pooled tissue extracts of endangered SLE and non-threatened Arctic belugas. Tissue extracts of SLE belugas exhibited significantly higher overall AhR activity than that of Arctic belugas, with a 2000s SLE beluga liver extract exerting significantly higher activity than blubber extracts of SLE and Arctic belugas from the same time period. Contrary to our expectations, well-known AhR agonists detected by nontargeted analysis, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), were only minor contributors to the observed AhR activity. Instead, Tox21 suspect screening identified more polar chemicals, such as dyes and natural indoles, as potential contributors. Notably, the natural product bromoindole was selectively detected in SLE beluga liver at high abundance and was further confirmed as an AhR agonist. These findings highlighted the significance of the AhR-mediated toxicity pathway in belugas and underscored the importance of novel AhR agonists, particularly polar compounds, in its induction.