A Comparison of Multiple Esterases as Biomarkers of Organophosphate Exposure and Effect in Two Earthworm Species

Abstract

Two different earthworm species, Eisenia fetida and Lumbricus terrestris, were exposed to 5 μg/cm2 of malathion to evaluate their usefulness as sentinels of organophosphate exposure and to assess three different esterases, as biomarkers of malathion exposure and effect. Tissue xenobiotic burdens and esterase activity were determined for each species and each esterase in order to assess variability. E. fetida exhibited 4-fold less variability in tissue burdens than did L. terrestris and had less variable basal esterase activities. An attempt was made to correlate malathion and malaoxon tissue burdens with esterase activity post-exposure. There was no malaoxon present in the earthworm tissues. No significant correlations were determined by comparing acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, nor carboxylesterase activities with malathion burdens.

Pesticides diazinon and diuron increase glutathione levels and affect multixenobiotic resistance activity and biomarker responses in zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos and larvae

“…This result was expected since diazinon is an organophosphate and it is known that organophosphorus compounds cause the inhibition of both AChE and CES activity (reviewed in [53]). Although most commonly AChE is screened as a biomarker to organophosphate exposure (e.g., [54,55]), several studies have shown that CES can be a more sensitive indicator to organophosphates than AChE (e.g., [56,57]). In a previous study assessing diazinon effects on zebrafish, a higher sensitivity of CES was demonstrated and it was concluded that later stages of zebrafish have higher sensitivity to diazinon exposure [14].…”

Highly selective biomarkers for pesticides developed in Eisenia fetida using SELDI-TOF MS

“…Biomarkers found in aquatic and terrestrial organisms following exposure to pesticides have been intensively studied in order to predict the presence of pesticides in the environment (Henson-Ramsey et al, 2011;Jamec et al, 2010). Recently, many studies have reported the use of terrestrial organisms for developing biomarkers in response to residual pesticides (Henson-Ramsey et al, 2011;Radwan and Mohamed, 2013;Stepić et al, 2013), and among these, earthworms were widely used to understand the impacts of pesticides in the environment. In two earthworm species, Eisenia fetida and Lumbricus terrestris, multiple esterases, including acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase, and carboxylesterase (CE), have been assessed as biomarkers for malathion exposure (HensonRamsey et al, 2011).…”