Recently, Guruge et al. [7] reported that gene expression is significantly altered in the liver of rats treated with PFOA, and most of these genes are involved in the transport and Pol. J. Environ. Stud. Vol. 24, No. 2 (2015), [801][802][803][804][805][806][807] Original Research
AbstractPerfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) has been found to distribute and accumulate widely in the environment. In this study, the acute toxicity, behavioral activity, regeneration, antioxidant enzyme activities, and cell apoptosis effects of PFOA on planarian Dugesia japonica have been investigated. The results show that the mortality is directly proportional to the PFOA concentration, and planarian locomotor velocity (pLMV) is significantly reduced with increasing both the exposure time and PFOA concentration. The recovery of the motility for planarians pre-treated with PFOA is found to be time-and dose-dependent, and all planarians recover their motility completely after 72 hr. The appearance of auricles in regenerating animals is more easily affected by PFOA exposure in comparison to the appearance of eyespot. The SOD activities and CAT activities are changed in the PFOA-exposed planarians. Increasing PFOA exposure time or concentration can cause an obvious increase of apoptosis in the brain, eye, and parenchyma region. The results suggest that PFOA is much more toxic for inducing oxidative stress, cell apoptosis, and development toxicity in planarians.Keywords: planarian, perfluorooctanoic acid, toxicity, regeneration, apoptosis *e-mail: zhangjy1977@126.com DOI: 10.15244/pjoes/32098 metabolism of fatty acids and lipids, cell communication, adhesion, growth, and apoptosis. PFOA can cause hepatotoxicity in rodents, such as an increase in liver weight, incidence of hepatocellular adenoma and hypocholesterolemia, hepatocellular hypertrophy, and lipid vacuolation [14,15].Different from other POPs, however, PFOA is highly water-soluble, and easy to transport in an aquatic environment [16]. Despite extensive studies both on the widespread distribution of PFOAs in the environment and on the toxicology of PFOAs to mammals, little is known about its threat to aquatic ecosystems and aquatic fauna, in particular, the PFOA toxicity for freshwater invertebrates. Indeed, the eco-toxicological consequences of PFOAs in the aquatic environment are largely unknown. More information is needed for adequately assessing the impact of PFOAs on the aquatic environment. Planarians are widely distributed in freshwater environments, such as streams and lakes, and are an important component in the aquatic ecology of unpolluted streams. They are highly sensitive to low concentrations of environmental toxins and possess a sensitive neurological system with a true brain, which allows for complex social behaviour [17]. Moreover, planarians have a high regeneration capacity. When a planarian is cut into several parts, whether cut transversally, longitudinally, or into tiny fragments, each part can regenerate into a complete organism [18]. Therefore, planarians are...