Variation of antioxidant/detoxification enzyme activities in response to benzo[a]pyrene in the gazami crab Portunus trituberculatus

Abstract

-Responses of four toxicological indices (7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase, EROD; glutathione S-transferase, GST; superoxide dismutase, SOD; and malondialdehyde, MDA) were studied in Portunus trituberculatus gill and liver during enrichment with benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) release at day 15. During BaP enrichment, toxicological indices in the gill and liver the 0.05 and 0.45 μg L −1 test groups were all significantly induced at day 1 (P < 0.05). Induction degree was positively proportional to exposure concentration. The EROC, GST and SOD activities first increased and then decreased. By contrast, liver SOD activity continuously increased. The MDA content in both gill and liver also continuously increased. EROD, GST, and SOD activities reached the peak levels earlier in the gill than in the liver. Enzyme activity and MDA content in the gill were lower than those in the liver. During release of BaP, SOD activity in the gill of the 0.45 μg L −1 test group and SOD activity in the liver of both test groups were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The toxicological indices in the gill and liver could recover to normal levels (P > 0.05). The gill of P. trituberculatus is more sensitive to BaP than the liver, but both organs could recover from our experimental BaP exposure.