Biochemical and histopathological endpoints of in vivo cadmium toxicity in Sparus aurata

Cadmium (Cd) is a non-essential metal common in water bodies subjected to anthropogenic pollution. Its proven toxicity to aquatic and terrestrial organisms (including humans) has made this metal a subject of particular interest in toxicological studies, especially concerning common coastal fish spe...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: PM Costa, MH Costa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad Autónoma de Baja California 2008-09-01
Series:Ciencias Marinas
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.cienciasmarinas.com.mx/index.php/cmarinas/article/view/1394
_version_ 1797279494433669120
author PM Costa
MH Costa
author_facet PM Costa
MH Costa
author_sort PM Costa
collection DOAJ
description Cadmium (Cd) is a non-essential metal common in water bodies subjected to anthropogenic pollution. Its proven toxicity to aquatic and terrestrial organisms (including humans) has made this metal a subject of particular interest in toxicological studies, especially concerning common coastal fish species that are important marine resources, such as Sparus aurata. In order to establish laboratory tests and biomarker techniques to assess in vivo Cd toxicity in a multilevel (from histological to biochemical) approach, a short-term (48 h) assay was performed using juvenile S. aurata injected intraperitoneally with individual Cd dosages (0–8.1 µg Cd g–1 fish w.w.). The results showed that Cd causes a fast and pronounced histopathological degeneration of liver tissue and an exponential induction in liver metallothionein-like proteins (MTs) strongly correlated to the injected Cd dosage (Spearman R = 0.97, P < 0.01) but not to Cd bioaccumulation or survival time. The relationships between Cd dosage, liver Cd, and liver MT suggested the existence of an absorbed Cd threshold after which the animals were no longer able to regulate and bioaccumulate the metal. This threshold was not dependent on survival time but rather on Cd dosage. The findings also confirmed the suitability of S. aurata as a test organism regarding toxicity caused by Cd. Complimentarily, a histological technique using a fluorochrome (acridine orange) to enhance tissue detail is described, as well as a method suitable for the detection of MTs in SDS-PAGE gels with a colloidal Coomassie blue stain. 
first_indexed 2024-03-07T16:26:09Z
format Article
id doaj.art-e891a3f79b2a4a34a9bd701bee9512e4
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 0185-3880
2395-9053
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-07T16:26:09Z
publishDate 2008-09-01
publisher Universidad Autónoma de Baja California
record_format Article
series Ciencias Marinas
spelling doaj.art-e891a3f79b2a4a34a9bd701bee9512e42024-03-03T18:16:13ZengUniversidad Autónoma de Baja CaliforniaCiencias Marinas0185-38802395-90532008-09-0134310.7773/cm.v34i3.1394Biochemical and histopathological endpoints of in vivo cadmium toxicity in Sparus aurataPM Costa0MH Costa1Instituto do MarInstituto do Mar Cadmium (Cd) is a non-essential metal common in water bodies subjected to anthropogenic pollution. Its proven toxicity to aquatic and terrestrial organisms (including humans) has made this metal a subject of particular interest in toxicological studies, especially concerning common coastal fish species that are important marine resources, such as Sparus aurata. In order to establish laboratory tests and biomarker techniques to assess in vivo Cd toxicity in a multilevel (from histological to biochemical) approach, a short-term (48 h) assay was performed using juvenile S. aurata injected intraperitoneally with individual Cd dosages (0–8.1 µg Cd g–1 fish w.w.). The results showed that Cd causes a fast and pronounced histopathological degeneration of liver tissue and an exponential induction in liver metallothionein-like proteins (MTs) strongly correlated to the injected Cd dosage (Spearman R = 0.97, P < 0.01) but not to Cd bioaccumulation or survival time. The relationships between Cd dosage, liver Cd, and liver MT suggested the existence of an absorbed Cd threshold after which the animals were no longer able to regulate and bioaccumulate the metal. This threshold was not dependent on survival time but rather on Cd dosage. The findings also confirmed the suitability of S. aurata as a test organism regarding toxicity caused by Cd. Complimentarily, a histological technique using a fluorochrome (acridine orange) to enhance tissue detail is described, as well as a method suitable for the detection of MTs in SDS-PAGE gels with a colloidal Coomassie blue stain.  https://www.cienciasmarinas.com.mx/index.php/cmarinas/article/view/1394bioaccumulationcadmiumhistopathologymetallothionein inductionSparus aurata
spellingShingle PM Costa
MH Costa
Biochemical and histopathological endpoints of in vivo cadmium toxicity in Sparus aurata
Ciencias Marinas
bioaccumulation
cadmium
histopathology
metallothionein induction
Sparus aurata
title Biochemical and histopathological endpoints of in vivo cadmium toxicity in Sparus aurata
title_full Biochemical and histopathological endpoints of in vivo cadmium toxicity in Sparus aurata
title_fullStr Biochemical and histopathological endpoints of in vivo cadmium toxicity in Sparus aurata
title_full_unstemmed Biochemical and histopathological endpoints of in vivo cadmium toxicity in Sparus aurata
title_short Biochemical and histopathological endpoints of in vivo cadmium toxicity in Sparus aurata
title_sort biochemical and histopathological endpoints of in vivo cadmium toxicity in sparus aurata
topic bioaccumulation
cadmium
histopathology
metallothionein induction
Sparus aurata
url https://www.cienciasmarinas.com.mx/index.php/cmarinas/article/view/1394
work_keys_str_mv AT pmcosta biochemicalandhistopathologicalendpointsofinvivocadmiumtoxicityinsparusaurata
AT mhcosta biochemicalandhistopathologicalendpointsofinvivocadmiumtoxicityinsparusaurata