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Acute toxicity of organophosphate fenitrothion on biomarkers in prawn Palaemonetes argentinus (Crustacea: Palaemonidae)

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Abstract

The effect of the organophosphate fenitrothion (FS) on the non-target freshwater prawn Palaemonetes argentinus was studied. Initially, the 96-h lethal concentration (LC50) of FS was determined in adult prawns. Inhibition of cholinesterase (ChE) in the muscle and hemolymph was assessed. Then, in the hepatopancreas, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) were analyzed. Lipid peroxidation (LPO) was also determined in the hepatopancreas. The 96-h LC50 value was 1.12 μg/L. Hemolymph ChE activity showed a significant decrease in exposed prawns to FS compared to the control group, while no significant differences in the muscle were observed between groups (p < 0.05). FS caused a significant increase in the activity of antioxidant enzymes SOD, CAT, and GST compared to the control group (p < 0.02). By contrast, LPO levels were not affected by the pesticide (p < 0.05). These results indicate that P. argentinus is very sensitive to organophosphorus which alter biochemical parameters that are related to antioxidant status. Thus, these parameters could be used as biomarkers for assessing water pollution.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partially supported by grants from CONICET (PIP 5888 and PIP 075) and Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Técnica, Argentina (PICT 25.794 and PICT 1601), through grants to M. Cunningham and F. Garcia. We are grateful to G. Tarelli from GLEBA for supplying the FS and to Norma Tedesco and M. Caviglia for the language revision. The authors are members of CONICET, Argentina.

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  1. Instituto de Limnología de La Plata “Dr. Raúl A. Ringuelet” (ILPLA), CONICET CCT La Plata-Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), Boulevard 120 y 62, La Plata, 1900, Argentina

    S. Lavarías

  2. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de La Plata (INIBIOLP), CONICET CCT La Plata-Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), Avenida 60 y 120, La Plata, 1900, Argentina

    C. F. García

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Lavarías, S., García, C.F. Acute toxicity of organophosphate fenitrothion on biomarkers in prawn Palaemonetes argentinus (Crustacea: Palaemonidae). Environ Monit Assess 187, 65 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-014-4224-5

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