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Antioxidant response and metal accumulation in tissues of Iberian green frogs (Pelophylax perezi) inhabiting a deactivated uranium mine

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Abstract

Human mining activities tend often to generate greatly impacted areas which remain contaminated for long periods of time, giving rise to extreme habitats. Mining sites are usually characterized for the production of metal rich effluents with very low pH. In this work we analyzed physical and chemical parameters of water from a deactivated uranium mine pond (M) and a reference site (REF) as well as their metal content. Furthermore, we determined and compared metal accumulation in liver, kidney, bones, muscle and skin of Pelophylax perezi from REF with P. perezi from M. We also determined the enzymatic activities of glutathione-S-transferases (GSTs), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (Gred), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx; both selenium-dependent and selenium-independent) in liver, kidney, lung and heart. Additionally, lipoperoxidation (LPO) was also assessed in the same tissues via thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) assay and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity was determined in muscle. Our results revealed that the majority of metals were in higher concentrations in tissues of organisms from M. This trend was especially evident for U whose content reached a difference of 1350 fold between REF and M organisms. None of the organs tested for antioxidant defenses revealed LPO, nonetheless, with exception for liver, all organs from the M frogs presented increased total GPx activity and selenium-dependent GPx. However, this response was significant only for the lung, probably as a consequence of the significant inhibition of CAT upstream and to cope with the subsequent increase in H2O2. Lungs were the organs displaying greater responsiveness of the anti-oxidant stress system in frogs from the uranium mine area.

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Acknowledgments

Authors wish to acknowledge EDM for their collaboration. Sérgio M. Marques was supported by a PhD grant (ref. SFRH/BD/38282/2007) and Sara C. Antunes was recipient of a post-doctoral fellowship (ref. SFRH/BPD/40052/2007) from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education). This research is part of the projects Engenur (ref. PTDC/AAC-AMB/114057/2009) and UraniumRisk (ref. POCI/AMB/60899/2004) funded by the Portuguese Government (Program Ciência - Inovação 2010) and by the European Social Fund. This research was also partially funded by FSE and POPH funds (Programa Ciência 2007).

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  1. CESAM (Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar) & Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Sérgio M. Marques, Sara C. Antunes, Bruno Nunes, Fernando Gonçalves & Ruth Pereira

  2. CIAGEB, FCS-UFP—Centro de Investigação em Alterações Globais, Energia e Bioengenharia, Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde da Universidade Fernando Pessoa, Rua Carlos da Maia, 296, 4200-150, Porto, Portugal

    Bruno Nunes

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Marques, S.M., Antunes, S.C., Nunes, B. et al. Antioxidant response and metal accumulation in tissues of Iberian green frogs (Pelophylax perezi) inhabiting a deactivated uranium mine. Ecotoxicology 20, 1315–1327 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-011-0688-z

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