PM15 Biomarkers
Exhibit Hall
8:00 AM - Monday
(PM228) Biomarkers in the Brazilian flounder Paralichthys orbignyanus: laboratory data.
Amado, L1, Sampaio, L1, Leite, A1, Pires, W1, Monserrat, J1, Geracitano, L1, Bianchini, A1, 1 Fundação Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil
ABSTRACT- Despite their relatively high mobility, several fish species have been widely employed as biomonitor to assess biological responses to environmental contaminants. Our aim was to evaluate if the flounder Paralichthys orbignyanus exposed to water contaminated with urban effluents for a short period of time showed responses in exposure (catalase and glutathione S-transferase activities, and metallothionein-like content in liver) and effect biomarkers (erythrocytes DNA damage and micronucleated cells frequency, and liver lipoperoxidation). Flounders collected in the sea were exposed for 1 or 5 days under laboratory conditions to water from two sites of the Patos lagoon estuary (Southern Brazil): Coroa do Boi (polluted site) and Saco do Justino (non-polluted site). The control group was exposed to clean water at the same salinity measured in the estuarine waters. Glutathione S-transferase activity and metallothionein-like content did not change over the experiment in both experimental groups. Catalase activity, lipoperoxidation and DNA damage seemed to be influenced by the stress of captivity, since they increased over time in all treatments. Micronucleated cells frequency (MCF) showed to be the best biomarker to distinguish the two sites analyzed. Flounders exposed for 5 days to the polluted water showed higher (P<0.05) nuclear alterations (14.00 ± 3.24 MCF) than those exposed for 1 day to the same water (0.40 ± 0.24 CMN) or those exposed to the non-polluted water for 5 days (2.60 ± 1.08 MCF). Taken together, these findings suggest that similar levels of DNA breaks resulted in higher levels of mutations in flounders exposed to the polluted water, possibly due to exhaustion or inactivation of the DNA repair mechanisms. (Supported by Brazilian FINEP and CNPq)
Key words: Paralichthys orbignyanus, flounder, effect biomarkers, exposure biomarkers