Increased formation of carcinogenic PAH metabolites in fish promoted by nitrite

• Published in: Environmental pollution (1987) Vol. 143; no. 1; pp. 174 - 177
• Main Authors: Shailaja, M.S., Rajamanickam, Rani, Wahidulla, Solimabi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2006; Elsevier
• Subjects: 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase; Agnatha. Pisces; Agriculture; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Benzo[ a]pyrene; benzopyrene; bile; Bile - chemistry; Bile metabolites; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers - analysis; Biotransformation; carcinogens; Carcinogens - metabolism; coastal water; Coastal waters; cytochrome P-450; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Environmental Exposure; enzyme activity; Fish; fluorescence; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; industrial effluents; Industrial Waste; Liver - metabolism; marine fish; metabolism; metabolites; nitric oxide; Nitrite; nitrites; Nitrites - metabolism; Oreochromis mossambicus; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH); polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons - metabolism; tilapia (common name); Tilapia - metabolism; Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution; Water Pollutants, Chemical - metabolism; Water Pollutants, Chemical - toxicity; water pollution; Benzo[ a]pyrene; Fish; Coastal waters; Nitrite; Bile metabolites; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH); Benzopyrene; Hydrocarbon; Metabolite; Nitrites; Polycyclic aromatic compound; Coastal zone; Persistent organic pollutant; Marine environment; Aquatic environment; Vertebrata; Pollution; Pisces; Environment; Coastal water; Benzo[a]pyrene; Degradation product; Organic compounds; Bile
• ISSN: 0269-7491; 1873-6424
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2005.10.043

Nitrite (NO 2 −), a highly reactive chemical species, accumulates in coastal waters as a result of pollution with nitrogenous waste and/or an imbalance in the bacterial processes of nitrification and denitrification. The present study probed the impact of nitrite (NO 2 −) on the metabolism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in fish. In a laboratory experiment, exposure of euryhaline fish, Oreochromis mossambicus to industrial effluents containing PAHs in the presence of NO 2 − enhanced the cytochrome P450-dependent biotransformation activity determined as 7-ethoxyresorufin- O-deethylase (EROD), by nearly 36% compared to the value observed in the absence of NO 2 − (50.2 ± 6.74 pmol resorufin min −1 g −1 liver). Fixed wavelength fluorescence measurements in bile revealed maximum enhancement to have occurred in the metabolites of benzo[ a]pyrene, a carcinogenic PAH. Lasting, sublethal physiological deterioration was apparent in fish exposed simultaneously to an oil refinery effluent and NO 2 −, from the unremittingly decreasing liver somatic index, even after the withdrawal of the contaminants. Nitrite increased formation of carcinogenic PAH metabolites in fish.