Application of a battery of biomarkers in mussel digestive gland to assess long-term effects of the Prestige oil spill in Galicia and Bay of Biscay: Tissue-level biomarkers and histopathology

Abstract

In order to assess the biological effects of the Prestige oil spill (POS), mussels, Mytilus galloprovincialis, were collected in 22 localities along the North coast of the Iberian Peninsula over 3 years (April 2003-April 2006). Different tissue-level biomarkers including cell type composition (volume density of basophilic cells, Vv(BAS)) in digestive gland epithelium, structural changes of digestive alveoli (mean luminal radius to mean epithelial thickness, MLR/MET) and histopathological alterations (prevalence and intensity) of the digestive gland were analysed. Severe alterations in the general condition of the digestive gland tissue were observed all over the study area up to 2004-2005. High Vv(BAS) values were recorded mainly in Galicia but also to a lesser extent in the Bay of Biscay in 2003-2004. Atrophy of the digestive alveoli, measured in terms of MLR/MET, was detected all along the studied area up to 2006. Inflammatory responses cannot be related to pollution due to the POS: (a) prevalence and intensity of focal hemocytic infiltration were higher in the Bay of Biscay than in Galicia but they did not show a clear temporal trend; (b) high intensities of brown cell aggregates were only sporadically recorded; and (c) granulocytomas were more frequently recorded in the Bay of Biscay than in Galicia and especially in localities (i.e. Arrigunaga) subjected to chronic pollution. Likewise, Marteilia, trematodes, intracellular ciliates, unidentified eosinophilic bodies, R/CLO and Mytilicola did not follow any recognisable pattern that could be associated to the POS. In contrast, high Nematopsis intensities recorded in several localities in 2003 might suggest some response of local interest after the POS (i.e., in combination with particular factors/conditions). More data at a regional scale are needed before histopathology may provide a reliable ecosystem health assessment but the present results suggest that the approach is worthwhile. Overall, although Vv(BAS) returned to reference values by 2004-2005, MLR/MET values indicated that the mussel health condition was affected during the whole study period up to April 2006.

iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomic analyses on the gender-specific responses in mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis to tetrabromobisphenol A

“…In both male and female samples with the TBBPA treatment, the hepatopancreas displayed conspicuous haemocytic infiltration and severe lesions of tubules. Infiltration of haemocytes in response to exposure to organic pollutants, such as PAHs and a mixture of diesel oil, has been reported in marine mussels (Auffert, 1988;Cappello et al, 2013a,b) and was interpreted as a repair process following tissue damage (Garmendia et al, 2011). Moore (1985) assumed that autolytic process of the epithelia of hepatopancreas tubule was a consequence of full lysosomal destabilization, which was confirmed by Auffert (1988) who found the incidence of lysosomes was inversely correlated to the extent of tubule lesions.…”

The Distribution of the MusselMytilusSpecies Along the Norwegian Coast

“…Under normal physiological conditions the digestive cells outnumber basophilic cells, but under different stress situations, including exposure to pollutants, the relative occurrence of basophilic cells is apparently augmented (Rasmussen et al, 1985;Lowe and Clarke, 1989;, 1998Zorita et al, 2006;Garmendia et al, 2011b). Changes in cell type composition in the digestive gland epithelium constitute a common response in molluscs that may lead to disturbances in food digestion and xenobiotic metabolism and accumulation Marigómez et al, 1998).…”

“…Changes in the normal phasic activity may be attributed to environmental factors, such as food availability or saline and thermal stress (Winstead, 1995) as well as exposure to pollutants. Particularly, it has been widely demonstrated that molluscs exposed to pollutants exhibit a net mass loss in the digestive gland epithelium that gives rise to abnormal epithelial thinning and finally atrophy (Lowe et al, 1981;Couch, 1984;Lowe and Clarke, 1989;Vega et al, 1989;Marigómez et al, 1993;Garmendia et al, 2011b). Atrophy and epithelial thinning constitute a non-specific fast inducible and slowly or not recoverable response to stressful environmental conditions that can be measured after semi-quantitative scoring (Kim et al, 2006) or after quantitative morphological analysis in terms of MPTW (mean proportion of tubule width; Robinson, 1983); or in terms of mean epithelial thickness (MET) and the relative parameters MLR/MET and MET/MDR (Lowe et al, 1981;Vega et al, 1989;Marigómez et al, 1993;Garmendia et al, 2011b), where MLR is the mean luminal radius and MDR the mean diverticular radius.…”

“…MLR/MET ratio is more sensitive than MET alone. The alterations in these parameters are used as tissue-level biomarkers in ecosystem health assessment (Garmendia et al, 2011b).…”

Biomarkers and transcription levels of cancer-related genes in cockles Cerastoderma edule from Galicia (NW Spain) with disseminated neoplasia

“…population, community or ecosystem (Cajaraville et al, 2000). Biomarkers have been applied in several species of molluscs, and especially in mussels, in both monitoring and experimental studies to establish timelines of exposure to and effects of xenobiotics and other anthropogenic perturbations (Garmendia et al, 2011;Viarengo et al, 2007;Zorita et al, 2007).…”