Oxidative Stress Biomarkers in Erythrocytes of Captive Pre-Juvenile Loggerhead Turtles Following Acute Exposure to Methylmercury

This study describes the use of erythrocytes (RBCs) of loggerhead turtles as in vitro models for evaluating their toxicity to methylmercury. Blood samples of loggerhead turtles that were born in the Colombian Caribbean were used. The LC50 of RBCs to methylmercury was determined at 96 h using methylm...

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Published inApplied sciences Vol. 10; no. 10; p. 3602
Main Authors Hernández-Fernández, Javier, López-Barrera, Ellie Anne, Mariño-Ramírez, Leonardo, Rodríguez-Becerra, Pilar, Pinzón-Velasco, Andrés
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.05.2020
Subjects
Adaptation
Animal reproduction
Antioxidants
Bioassays
Biomarkers
Caretta caretta
Cell viability
Chelonia mydas
Cytotoxicity
Dimethylmercury
Eretmochelys imbricata
Erythrocytes
Exposure
Glutathione transferase
in vitro
Laboratories
Lepidochelys kempii
Lipid peroxidation
Lipids
Malondialdehyde
Methylmercury
Oxidative stress
Pelodiscus sinensis
Peroxidation
Pollutants
Reptiles & amphibians
Studies
Superoxide dismutase
Toxicity
Turtles
Colombia
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Summary:This study describes the use of erythrocytes (RBCs) of loggerhead turtles as in vitro models for evaluating their toxicity to methylmercury. Blood samples of loggerhead turtles that were born in the Colombian Caribbean were used. The LC50 of RBCs to methylmercury was determined at 96 h using methylmercury concentrations of 0.5–100 mg L−1. Next, the viability of the RBCs and the activity of the enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione S-transferase (GST), and lipid peroxidation by malondialdehyde (MDA) at 6 and 12 h of exposure to acute concentrations of 0, 1, and 5 mg L−1 were evaluated. The LC50 for loggerhead turtle RBCs was 8.32 mg L−1. The cell viability bioassay of RBCs exposed for 12 h only showed 100% cell viability. Increasing in vitro MeHg concentrations caused a corresponding increase in MDA concentration as well as decreases in the activities of SOD and GST. The RBCs represent an excellent model for ecotoxicological studies and SOD, GST, and MDA are biomarkers of environmental pollution and oxidative stress in loggerhead turtles. This was the first study conducted on loggerhead turtle where the response of RBCs to MeHg-induced oxidative stress is evaluated.
ISSN:2076-3417
2076-3417
DOI:10.3390/app10103602