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Enzyme responses and lipid peroxidation in gills and hepatopancreas of clam Mactra vereformis, following cadmium exposure

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Abstract

To assess the toxicity of heavy metal pollution to marine intertidal shellfish, enzymatic responses and lipid peroxidation were investigated in the clam Mactra vereformis exposed to cadmium under laboratory conditions. Three antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, SOD; catalase, CAT; glutathione peroxidase, GPx), two immune defense enzymes (acid phosphatase, ACP; alkaline phosphatase, ALP), and one lipid peroxidation product (malondialdehyde, MDA) were measured in the gills and the hepatopancreas of the clam exposed to 0, 25, 75, and 125 μg/L cadmium for 0, 1, 3, 5, and 7 d. The results show that the concentrations of antioxidant enzymes in the organs soared to a peak value on the first day and then decreased afterwards in most cases. CAT and GPx activities in the hepatopancreas were higher than in the gills, but the SOD activity was lower in the hepatopancreas. ACP activity was unchanged until Day 3 in the hepatopancreas and until Day 5 in gills, when it began to increase. ALP activity showed no significant relationship with Cd treatment. MDA concentrations increased in the two tissues after Cd exposure, peaked on Day 3 in gills, and on Day 5 in hepatopancreas. These observations show that changes in the activities of antioxidant enzymes and ACP reflect the time course of oxidative stress in the clam caused by Cd, and could be used as potential biomarkers for ecotoxicological bioassays of heavy metals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Xiaoyu Wang  (王晓宇), Hongsheng Yang  (杨红生) & Qing Wang  (王清)

  2. Tianjin Fisheries Research Institute, Tianjin, 300221, China

    Xiaoyu Wang  (王晓宇)

  3. Mariculture Institute of Shandong Province, Qingdao, 266002, China

    Guangbin Liu  (刘广斌)

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  1. Xiaoyu Wang  (王晓宇)
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  2. Hongsheng Yang  (杨红生)
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  3. Guangbin Liu  (刘广斌)
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  4. Qing Wang  (王清)
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Correspondence to Hongsheng Yang  (杨红生).

Additional information

Supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (No. 2007CB407305), the Tianjin Program for Marine Development by Reliance on Science and Technology (No. kx2010-4), the National Marine Public Welfare Research Project of China (No. 200805069), the Natural Science Fundation for Creative Research Groups (No. 40821004), and the Knowledge Innovation Key Projects of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KZCX2-YW-Q07-03)

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Wang, X., Yang, H., Liu, G. et al. Enzyme responses and lipid peroxidation in gills and hepatopancreas of clam Mactra vereformis, following cadmium exposure. Chin. J. Ocean. Limnol. 29, 981–989 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-011-0088-5

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