Assessment of biological effects of pollutants in a hyper eutrophic tropical water body, Lake Beira, Sri Lanka using multiple biomarker responses of resident fish, Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Abstract

Biomarkers measured at the molecular and cellular level in fish have been proposed as sensitive "early warning" tools for biological effect measurements in environmental quality assessments. Lake Beira is a hypertrophic urban water body with a complex mixture of pollutants including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and Microcystins. In this study, a suite of biomarker responses viz. biliary fluorescent aromatic compounds (FACs), hepatic ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) and glutathione S-transferase (GST), brain and muscle cholinesterases (ChE), serum sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH), and liver histology of Oreochromis niloticus, the dominant fish inhabiting this tropical Lake were evaluated to assess the pollution exposure and biological effects. Some fish sampled in the dry periods demonstrated prominent structural abnormalities in the liver and concomitant increase in serum SDH and reduction in hepatic GST activities in comparison to the control fish and the fish sampled in the rainy periods. The resident fish with apparently normal liver demonstrated induction of hepatic EROD and GST activities and increase in biliary FACs irrespective of the sampling period indicating bioavailability of PAHs. Muscle ChE activities of the resident fish were depressed significantly indicating exposure to anticholinesterase substances. The results revealed that fish populations residing in this Lake is under threat due to the pollution stress. Hepatic abnormalities in the fish may be mainly associated with the pollution stress due to recurrent exposure to PAHs and toxigenic Microcystis blooms in the Lake.

Biomarker responses of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) exposed to polluted water from Kelani river basin, Sri Lanka: Implications for biomonitoring river pollution

“…Histopathological biomarkers are valuable as early indicators of the biological damage in fish as they reflect the effects of exposure to a variety of anthropogenic pollutants (Pathiratne et al 2010;Kumar et al 2017). The liver is the main site of biotransformation of foreign chemicals that enter the fish body.…”

“…Erythrocytic micronuclei and nuclear abnormalities in fish are cellular level biomarkers for assessing genotoxic effects (Al-Sabti and Metcalfe 1995;Pathiratne 2016, 2017). The liver is a vital organ and analysis of liver histological alterations in fish can be used as a tissue level biomarker for assessing organ damage (Pathiratne et al 2010;Ghisi et al 2016;Kumar et al 2017).…”

Impact of sublethal di-n-butyl phthalate on the aquaculture fish species Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus ): histopathology and oxidative stress assessment

“…GPx, glutathione‐S‐transferase (GST), free radicals and peroxides play a central role in the defence mechanisms against many xenobiotics and carcinogens (Data, Sinha & Chattopadhyay ). Further studies addressing changes in antioxidant and detoxification enzymes such as GPx and GST activities and gene expression of these markers would elucidate mechanisms of action in the antioxidant defence system alterations in tilapia (Pathiratne, Pathiratne & De Seram ; Puerto, Gutierrez‐Praena, Prieto, Pichardo, Jos, Miguel‐Carrasco, Vazquez & Camean ). We found that liver GSH levels were unchanged after DBP exposure during 24 and 96 h in all groups ( P > 0.05, Table ).…”

“…GSH is an important intracellular tripeptide with diverse functions, ranging from antioxidant protection to regulation of cell proliferation. Further studies addressing changes in antioxidant and detoxification enzymes such as GPx and GST activities and gene expression of these markers would elucidate mechanisms of action in the antioxidant defence system alterations in tilapia (Pathiratne, Pathiratne & De Seram 2010;Puerto, Gutierrez-Praena, Prieto, Pichardo, Jos, Miguel-Carrasco, Vazquez & Camean 2011). Further studies addressing changes in antioxidant and detoxification enzymes such as GPx and GST activities and gene expression of these markers would elucidate mechanisms of action in the antioxidant defence system alterations in tilapia (Pathiratne, Pathiratne & De Seram 2010;Puerto, Gutierrez-Praena, Prieto, Pichardo, Jos, Miguel-Carrasco, Vazquez & Camean 2011).…”

Biomarkers associated with binaprofen‑induced liver injury

“…The ICD, which utilizes NADP + is present in large amounts in the liver, cardiac/skeletal muscle and kidney tissues, and alterations in its serum levels have been reported to be both sensitive and specific to injuries of hepatic parenchymal cells. SDH is mainly found in the liver, though it is also present in low levels in kidney, brain, heart and spleen tissues (46,47). Therefore, serum SDH levels may serve as a sensitive and specific biomarker for predicting liver injury.…”