Assessment of coastal pollution by combined determination of chemical and biochemical markers in Mullus barbatus

Abstract

Muscle concentrations of organochlorinated compounds as well as biliary levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) metabolites were determined in red mullet Mullus barbatus as a sentinel species for assessing the pollution along the western Mediterranean coast. A battery of biochemical markers -biotransformation and antioxidant enzymes -were also measured in liver subcellular fractions to assess exposure to pollutants. Among them, 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) activity, as well as 7-penthoxyresorufin O-deethylase (PROD) activity and cytochrome P450 1A (CYP1A) content evidenced strong differences among sampling sites, and a good correlation with the amount of PCBs bioaccumulated by fish. No clear pollution-related response was observed for cytosolic glutathione S-transferase, whereas uridine-diphosphate UDP-glucuronyltransferase (UDPGT) was elevated in fish from polluted sites. Antioxidant enzymes -superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) -were used to assess oxidative stress. Among them, catalase activity was well related to PCB body burden.

Parasites and hystopathology of <i>Mullus barbatus</i> and <i>Citharus linguatula</i> (Pisces) from two sites in the NW Mediterranean with different degrees of pollution

“…From the present study, information on parasites found in M. barbatus leads us to point out, as previously suggested by other authors (Porte et al, 2002;Zorita et al, 2008;Insausti et al, 2009), that M. barbatus is a suitable species for bioindicator analysis. The usefulness of the determination of H. fabri, Capillaria sp.…”

“…that lead to high values compared to other areas of the Catalan coast (Eljarrat et al, 2001;Liquete et al, 2010;Palanques et al, 1998Palanques et al, , 2008Porte et al, 2002;Sánchez-Cabeza et al, 1999). Recent data from our laboratory on muscle samples of M. barbatus and C. linguatula from the Barcelona coast (unpublished data) confirm higher levels of organochlorine compounds than those from the Blanes coast, in agreement with the results of Porte et al (2002) in M. barbatus from the same areas.…”

“…Heavy metal levels are high on the Barcelona shelf due to industrial development and a population increase during the 1920s and 1960s (Palanques et al, 1998(Palanques et al, , 2008Sánchez-Cabeza et al, 1999), and organic pollutants (PCBs, DDT, etc. ) show higher values in the sediment and organisms of the Barcelona area than in those of the Blanes area (Eljarrat et al, 2001;Porte et al, 2002). Fishes were captured at a depth of 52-130 m during the same period to avoid seasonal variations and minimize possible nutritional and reproductive changes.…”

“…Their abundance and close association with the sediments where some toxicants accumulate make them suitable indicator species for the Mediterranean. M. barbatus has previously been used in several studies as a sentinel for pollution monitoring in Mediterranean waters (Porte et al, 2002;Benedicto et al, 2005;Zorita et al, 2008;Insausti et al, 2009). C. linguatula is a target species of the local trawling fleet and is vulnerable to fishing activities (De Juan et al, 2007).The use of pleuronectiforms as bioindicators has been widely documented because of their highly susceptibility to suffer diseases (Johnson et al, 1993: Khan andHooper, 2007).…”

Evaluation of environmental impact on natural populations of the Mediterranean killifish Aphanius fasciatus by quantitative RNA biomarkers

“…Therefore, our data suggest that the elevated CYP1A transcript levels were not related to the known metal pollution in Sfax, but to still uncharacterised organic pollutan(s). The correlation between individual levels of CYP1A and SOD transcripts may also be related to this putative environmental impact, as SOD is a classical marker for oxidative stress affected by many pollutants, both organic and inorganic (Bainy et al, 1996;Hansen et al, 2007;Peters et al, 1994;Porte et al, 2002).…”