Biomarkers of waterborne copper exposure in the guppy Poecilia vivipara acclimated to salt water

• Published in: Aquatic toxicology 2013-08, Vol.138-139, p.60-69
• Main Authors: Machado, Anderson Abel de Souza, Hoff, Mariana Leivas Müller, Klein, Roberta Daniele, Cardozo, Janaina Goulart, Giacomin, Marina Mussoi, Pinho, Grasiela Lopes Leães, Bianchini, Adalto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acclimatization - physiology; Animals; antioxidant activity; Bayes Theorem; Biomarkers; Biomarkers - metabolism; catalase; Catalase - metabolism; Copper; Copper - toxicity; DNA damage; DNA Damage - drug effects; Environmental Monitoring - methods; erythrocytes; Erythrocytes - drug effects; fish; gills; Gills - metabolism; glutathione transferase; glutathione-disulfide reductase; Guppy; Lipid Peroxidation; liver; Liver - metabolism; Muscle, Skeletal - metabolism; Oxidative stress; Oxidative Stress - drug effects; Poecilia - metabolism; Poecilia - physiology; Poecilia reticulata; Poecilia vivipara; reactive oxygen species; Reactive Oxygen Species - metabolism; saline water; Salinity; superoxide dismutase; Water Pollutants, Chemical - toxicity
• ISSN: 0166-445X; 1879-1514
• DOI: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2013.04.009

•Acute effects of waterborne copper were evaluated in the estuarine guppy Poecilia vivipara.•Fishes were acutely exposed to waterborne copper in salt water.•Waterborne copper affects the response of several biochemical and genetic endpoints.•Catalase, reactive oxygen species, antioxidant capacity and lipid peroxidation are responsive to copper exposure.•Copper exposure induces DNA damages in fish erythrocytes. The responses of a large suite of biochemical and genetic parameters were evaluated in tissues (liver, gills, muscle and erythrocytes) of the estuarine guppy Poecilia vivipara exposed to waterborne copper in salt water (salinity 24ppt). Activities of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione reductase, and glutathione S-transferase), metallothionein-like protein concentration, reactive oxygen species (ROS) content, antioxidant capacity against peroxyl radicals (ACAP), and lipid peroxidation (LPO) were evaluated in liver, gills, and muscle. Comet assay score and nuclear abnormalities and micronucleated cell frequency were analyzed in peripheral erythrocytes. The responses of these parameters were evaluated in fish exposed (96h) to environmentally relevant copper concentrations (5, 9 and 20μgL−1). In control and copper-exposed fish, no mortality was observed over the experimental period. Almost all biochemical and genetic parameters proved to be affected by waterborne copper exposure. However, the response of catalase activity in liver, ROS, ACAP and LPO in muscle, gills and liver, and DNA damages in erythrocytes clearly showed to be dependent on copper concentration in salt water. Therefore, the use of these parameters could be of relevance in the scope of biomonitoring programs in salt water environments contaminated with copper.