| Summary: | The functioning of the immune and reproductive systems is crucial for the fitness and survival of species and is strongly influenced by the environment. To evaluate the effects of short-term heat stress (HS) on these systems, confirming and deepening previous studies, female sea urchin <i>Paracentrotus lividus</i> were exposed for 7 days to 17 °C, 23 and 28 °C. Several biomarkers were detected such as the ferric reducing power (FRAP), ABTS-based total antioxidant capacity (TAC-ABTS), nitric oxide metabolites (NO<sub>x</sub>), total thiol levels (TTL), myeloperoxidase (MPO) and protease (PA) activities in the coelomic fluid (CF) and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> content and intracellular pH (pH<sub>i</sub>) in eggs and coelomocytes, in which TAC-ABTS and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) were also analyzed. In the sea urchins exposed to HS, CF analysis showed a decrease in FRAP levels and an increase in TAC-ABTS, TTL, MPO and PA levels; in coelomocytes, RNS, MMP and H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> content increased, whereas pH<sub>i</sub> decreased; in eggs, increases in MMP, H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> content and pH<sub>i</sub> were found. In conclusion, short-term HS leads to changes in five out of the six CF biomarkers analyzed and functional alterations in the cells involved in either reproductive or immune activities.
|
|---|