Hepatic monooxygenase (CYP1A and CYP3A) and UDPGT enzymatic activities as biomarkers for long-term carbofuran exposure in tench (Tinca tincaL)

Abstract

The effect of a long-term exposure of tenchs to different concentrations (10 and 100 micro g/L) of the pesticide carbofuran has been evaluated. Microsomal hepatic cytochrome P450 subfamily 1A (CYP1A) and 3A (CYP3A) activities, as well as the phase II enzyme uridine diphospho-glucuronosyltransferase (UDPGT) activity were evaluated as adequate biomarkers of fish exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of the pesticide carbofuran in freshwater ecosystems. A clear time-dependent inhibition of both CYP1A and UDPGT activities was observed in fish exposed to the highest dose of carbofuran with respect to controls, whereas in the case of CYP3A activity, values of exposed animals did not show a clear pattern of alteration during the experiment. The results of the present study demonstrated that hepatic CYP1A and UDPGT activities from tench could be considered as sensitive biomarkers for carbamate pesticides in polluted water, thus allowing future and ecologically relevant biomonitoring studies with this species.

Brain biomarkers in tench (Tinca tinca L.) after semi-static exposure to the pesticide carbofuran

“…Variation in those biochemical parameters may result from stress situations, but susceptibility of the species should be also taken into account. The increase in xenobiotic concentration may not be always related to an induction of antioxidant activity since several factors can influence this effect (Hernández-Moreno et al, 2008). That idea is in accordance with the different effect on GSH levels showed by our tenchs exposed to 100 μg/L, increased at 7 days and decreased after 14 and 21 days of experiment.…”

“…Water samples (250 mL) were taken once a week from each tank for carbofuran analysis to assess the effective concentrations of the pesticide by using a HPLC technique with acetonitrile and water as mobile phase and a Nucleosyl 120 C18 column (Hernández-Moreno et al, 2008). Calibrations were performed analyzing several samples of carbofuran at known concentrations.…”

“…Fish were anesthetized with a solution of MS222 (Sigma) at a concentration of 0.1 g/L (Hernández-Moreno et al, 2008). Animals were killed, and their brain was immediately dissected, weighed, measured and individually frozen at -80 °C until biochemical assays.…”

“…Fish respond to environmental stress through a variety of compensatory mechanisms, adapting their metabolic functions (Eissa et al, 2003), thus being good indicators of environmental quality. A possible example would be the tench, Tinca tinca L., which may constitute an adequate organism for biomonitoring in Southern Europe, as it is widely distributed in most small bodies of water, acting as bioindicators of regional environmental pollution in the whole water column due to their special behavior (Hernández-Moreno et al, 2008).…”

Regulation of cytochrome P4501A by protein kinase C: the role of heat shock protein70

“…Involvement of cytochrome P4503A4 in detoxification of carbosulfan has been reported (Abass et al). Recent report also implicated that induction of cytochrome P450 could be used as a biomarker for carbofuran pollution (Hernandez-Moreno et al 2008).…”