A comparative and evolutionary approach to oxidative stress in fish: A review

Abstract

Oxidative stress results from an imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species and the antioxidants defences, in favour of the former. In recent years, the association between oxidative processes, environmental change and life histories has received much attention. However, most studies have focused on avian and mammalian taxonomic groups, with less attention given to fish, despite their ecological and socio‐economic relevance. Here we present a review of the extrinsic and intrinsic factors that influence oxidative processes in fish, using a comparative and evolutionary approach. We demonstrate that oxidative stress plays a key role in shaping fish's responses to environmental change as well as life history strategies. We focus on representative examples to compare and contrast how levels of oxidative stress respond to changes in temperature, salinity and oxygen availability. Furthermore, we describe how emerging threats (i.e. pollution) affect oxidative stress parameters in fish. Oxidative stress indicators are increasingly being used as biomarkers to understand the mechanisms of various human‐induced stressors, but also to understand the physiological consequences of how animals are distributed in space and time and influenced by different life stages. Despite the expansion of the field of ecological oxidative stress, we are only beginning to understand the complex ways in which oxidative stress may interact with both extrinsic and intrinsic factors in fish. We conclude with a research agenda for oxidative research on fish and note that there is need for further research particularly in the area of life history strategies and ecological implications of oxidative status, as this type of research has the potential to help us understand patterns and dynamics relevant to fish conservation.

Oxidative ecology of paternal care in wild smallmouth bass, Micropterus dolomieu

“…This supports a model in which older parents are more physiologically capable and resistant to oxidative stress, rather than a model where oxidative stress accumulates as a cost of ageing, reproduction or both. This finding is contrary to the commonly held view that oxidative stress accumulates with age (Birnie-Gauvin et al, 2017), and provides insight into physiological mechanisms behind the life-history tradeoff of reproductive male smallmouth bass.…”

“…Understanding if and how oxidative ecology is associated with different components of parental care and life-history decisions represents a significant knowledge gap, not just for smallmouth bass or teleost fish, but more broadly within parental care-providing vertebrates (Birnie-Gauvin et al, 2017;Costantini, 2016). We found that older, more experienced fish show reduced oxidative stress entering the parental care period.…”

“…If we had used a lethal sampling approach to obtain tissues such as heart, brain or liver, we would have removed the majority of nesting bass for a given year, which would have serious ecological consequences. Previous studies have used plasma for the assessment of oxidative protection and damage (reviewed in Birnie-Gauvin et al, 2017), including research on nesting bass (see Wilson et al, 2012). In addition, other studies on teleost fish have compared different tissues and revealed that plasma concentrations are related to those in other tissues (Taylor et al, 2015).…”

“…As oxidative stress results in a lowered physiological condition for parental care-providing smallmouth bass (i.e. due to the deleterious effects of ROS damage at both the cellular and organismal levels), oxidative stress may, therefore, provide the physiological mechanism driving lifehistory trade-offs (Birnie-Gauvin et al, 2017) such as the decision of whether or not to spawn in the spring, as well as the decision of each male that did spawn whether to continue to guard or to abandon its brood throughout the parental care period. In this study, we considered the following alternative hypotheses for oxidative stress relative to life history at the beginning of the parental care period in smallmouth bass, outlined below.…”

Effects of the anesthetic MS-222 on silver pomfret (Pampus argenteus) juveniles under aquaculture treatment stresses

“…Stressed fish have been demonstrated to be more vulnerable to disease because of impairment of the antioxidant defense systems (Velisek et al, 2011). To cope with oxidative damage, organisms have evolved a system to either prevent or repair the effects of oxidative stress (Birnie-Gauvin et al, 2017). Oxidative stress is caused by the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), H2O2, hydroxyl radicals, and superoxide anion radicals, which are the main by-products of oxidative metabolism and potentially cause cell damage (Azzi et al, 2004).…”