Toxic Effects of Copper on Antioxidative and Metabolic Enzymes of the Marine Gastropod, Onchidium struma

• Published in: Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology 2009-05, Vol.56 (4), p.776-784
• Main Authors: Li, Xiao-bo, Hou, Xue-li, Mao, Qian, Zhao, Yun-long, Cheng, Yong-xu, Wang, Qun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acid Phosphatase - drug effects; Acid Phosphatase - metabolism; Alanine Transaminase - drug effects; Alanine Transaminase - metabolism; Alkaline Phosphatase - drug effects; Alkaline Phosphatase - metabolism; Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Aspartate Aminotransferases - drug effects; Aspartate Aminotransferases - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Catalase - drug effects; Catalase - metabolism; Copper; Copper - toxicity; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Enzymes; Enzymes - drug effects; Enzymes - metabolism; Estuaries; Fisheries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gastropoda; Gastropoda - enzymology; Gastropoda - physiology; General aspects; Heavy metals; Hepatopancreas - drug effects; Hepatopancreas - enzymology; Life sciences; Marine; Marine ecology; Metabolism; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Muscle, Skeletal - drug effects; Muscle, Skeletal - enzymology; Onchidium; Phosphatase; Pollutants; Pollution; Sea water ecosystems; Seawater; Sediments; Soil Science & Conservation; Studies; Superoxide Dismutase - drug effects; Superoxide Dismutase - metabolism; Synecology; Toxicity; Toxicity Tests; Water Pollutants, Chemical - toxicity; Water quality; Zinc
• ISSN: 0090-4341; 1432-0703
• DOI: 10.1007/s00244-009-9290-2

The goals of this study were to evaluate the acute and sublethal toxicity of copper (Cu²⁺) on the marine gastropod, Onchidium struma, and to examine the utility of enzymatic parameters as indicators of Cu²⁺ exposure. In a semistatic renewal test, the 96-hour median lethal concentration of Cu²⁺ for O. struma, 74.80 mg/L, was higher than that for other intertidal species. The activities of the antioxidative enzymes, Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD) and catalase (CAT), and those of the metabolic enzymes-acid phosphatase (ACP), alkaline phosphatase (AKP), glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT) -in both hepatopancreas and muscle were determined after a 1-week exposure to Cu²⁺ (range 1.35 to 4.20 mg/L). The activities of both Cu/Zn-SOD and CAT were higher in hepatopancreas than muscle. In addition, there was a negative correlation between Cu²⁺ concentration and Cu/Zn-SOD activity in hepatopancreas, whereas a positive correlation was observed for CAT activity. Concentration-dependent changes in ACP and AKP activity showed a similar trend in hepatopancreas, increasing then decreasing and, finally, a slight increase. In contrast, ACP activity was positively correlated with Cu²⁺ across the concentration range tested. In both hepatopancreas and muscle, both GOT and GPT were activated by lower concentrations of Cu²⁺ and inhibited at higher concentrations.