Histopathological changes related to chemical contamination in Mytilus edulis from field and experimental conditions

Abstract

This comparative histopathological study, carried out at the GEEP Workshop, assesses tissue changes in mussels Mytilus edulis from a contaminated Norwegian fjord and from mesocosm basins where a contaminant gradient had been simulated. Parasitism by larval trematodes was observed in both circumstances, but was not related to contaminant levels. Mussels from the field exhibited granulocytomas in their interstitial tissues, with a greater incidence at polluted sites than at a reference site, suggesting that granulocytomas could be a consequence of chronic pollutant exposure. This pathological condition was not observed in experimentally treated mussels, which nevertheless had severe tissue alterations, especially in digestive tubules and gills, under exposure to high levels of a diesel oil and copper mixture. It is concluded that this type of histopathological analysis can provide useful information on the health of mussels, and that this information can be used successfully in the comparison of field samples.

iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomic analyses on the gender-specific responses in mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis to tetrabromobisphenol A

“…In both male and female samples with the TBBPA treatment, the hepatopancreas displayed conspicuous haemocytic infiltration and severe lesions of tubules. Infiltration of haemocytes in response to exposure to organic pollutants, such as PAHs and a mixture of diesel oil, has been reported in marine mussels (Auffert, 1988;Cappello et al, 2013a,b) and was interpreted as a repair process following tissue damage (Garmendia et al, 2011). Moore (1985) assumed that autolytic process of the epithelia of hepatopancreas tubule was a consequence of full lysosomal destabilization, which was confirmed by Auffert (1988) who found the incidence of lysosomes was inversely correlated to the extent of tubule lesions.…”

Histopathologic and histochemical biomarker responses of Baltic clam, Macoma balthica, to contaminated Sydney Harbour sediment, Nova Scotia, Canada.

“…Digestive gland lesions including tubular dilation, cell vacuolation, and tissue inflammation induced by exposure to contaminated sediments were reported in mussels, Mytilus edulis (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23), and oysters, Ostrea edulis, Crassostrea virginica, and C. gigas (24,25). Teh et al (26) reported severe inflammation and moderate atrophy of primary ducts and diverticula in the digestive gland of an euryhaline species of bivalve mollusk, the Asian clam (Potamocorbula amurensis), collected from Sacramento River of the San Francisco estuary in California, where high concentration of heavy metals were found.…”

Effects of various pollutant mixtures on immune responses of the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) collected at a salinity gradient in Danish coastal waters

“…Particularly noticeable was the occurrence of vacuolation in haemocytes at Frederiksvaerk. Vacuolation has been described as a potential marker for environmental stress in mussel tissues, such as the epithelial (Auffret, 1988) and digestive cells (Thompson et al, 1978), though descriptions of vacuolation events in haemocytes are lacking. Henics and Wheatley (1999) provided a review about the occurrence and implications of cytoplasmic vacuolation in cultured mammalian cells, suggesting that this abnormality primarily reflects an adaptative, survival response to a wide range of environmental factors, which is reversible but could lead to a particular and distinctive form of cell death (rather than apoptosis).…”

“…Kiss (2010) suggested, that apoptosis might be a useful biomarker, since it provides mechanistic information on the impact of environmental and xenobiotic pollutants. Further, normal homoeostasis of haemocytes can be determined by histopathological techniques, as employed in other molluscan tissues (Auffret, 1988;Thompson et al, 1978).…”