Interrenal metallothionein and cortisol secretion in relation to Cd, Cu, and Zn exposure in yellow perch, Perca flavescens, from Abitibi lakes

Abstract

The concentrations of Zn, Cu, and Cd in the interrenal tissue and liver of yellow perch, Perca flavescens, sampled in six lakes in the mining region of Abitibi (Quebec) revealed a gradient of contamination: reference lakes, intermediate-contaminated lakes, and highly contaminated lakes. Interrenal and hepatic metallothionein concentrations followed a similar gradient, and there was a strong relationship between metallothionein and total metal (Zn + Cu + Cd) content in the liver and Cu + Cd content in the interrenals. Following a standardized confinement stress test, plasma cortisol and glucose were significantly higher in fish from reference lakes compared with the two most contaminated lakes. No differences in plasma chloride were observed. The secretory response of the interrenal tissue to in vitro stimulation by adrenocorticotropic hormone and dibutyryl cyclic AMP was significantly lower in fish from a contaminated lake compared with fish from a reference lake. Condition factor was significantly lower in yellow perch from the most contaminated lakes. This study demonstrated that a chronic field exposure to base metals increases hepatic and interrenal tissue metallothionein concentrations and disrupts the physiological capacity of yellow perch to generate the normal hormonal stress response.

Effects of Cu on plasma cortisol and cortisol secretion by adrenocortical cells of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

“…The water Cu concentrations used in this study were environmentally relevant and did result in accumulation of Cu in fish tissues. Moreover, Cu concentrations in livers of trout exposed to the higher concentration (80 g/l) were similar to levels reported by Laflamme et al (2000) in perch from field studies in the mining area of Abitibi, Qc. Similar to other laboratory and field studies, liver was the principal organ of Cu accumulation, followed by other tissues (McGeer et al, 2000b;Audet and Couture, 2003;Lévesque et al, 2003;Giguere et al, 2004).…”

“…Concentration of Cu were measured by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrophotometry (ICP-AES) in water, and in kidney, interrenal tissue and liver, using tissue homogenates corresponding to 100 mg dry weight, as described previously by Laflamme et al (2000). A mass of 1 g/g dry weight corresponds to approximately 0.29 g/g wet weight.…”

Use of Siam weed biomarker in assessing heavy metal contaminations in traffic and solid waste polluted areas

“…However, Cd and Pb are of serious concern and adequate control of their sources is paramount because of their negative impact on biotics and the ecosystem at large. Pb and Cd affect metallothionein, a cystine rich, low-molecularweight, metal-binding protein (Perceval et al, 2002) and hormonal activity in living organisms (Laflamme et al, 2000). Pb has caused anaemia, brain damage, anorexia, renal failure, mental deficiency, vomiting and even death in human (Bulut and Baysal, 2006;Low et al, 2001) even at trace levels lower than the observed concentration in this study.…”

Live Fast and Die Young: Metal Effects on Condition and Physiology of Wild Yellow Perch from along Two Metal Contamination Gradients

“…Several studies have reported that yellow perch tissue metal concentrations are influenced by environmental contamination (Brodeur et al 1997;Laflamme et al 2000;Levesque et al 2002;Campbell et al 2003;Couture and Rajotte 2003;Pyle et al 2005;Couture et al 2008a). A number of reports also indicate that metal-contaminated wild yellow perch suffer a range of metabolic and energetic impairments, including an impaired cortisol stress response (Hontela et al 1996;Brodeur et al 1997;Laflamme et al 2000;Lacroix and Hontela 2004), bioenergetics (Sherwood et al …”

“…A number of reports also indicate that metal-contaminated wild yellow perch suffer a range of metabolic and energetic impairments, including an impaired cortisol stress response (Hontela et al 1996;Brodeur et al 1997;Laflamme et al 2000;Lacroix and Hontela 2004), bioenergetics (Sherwood et al …”