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Environmentally Relevant Hexavalent Chromium Disrupts Elemental Homeostasis and Induces Apoptosis in Zebrafish Liver

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Abstract

Although hexavalent chromium Cr [VI] is known as a toxicant in the aquatic environment, its effect in low, environmentally relevant concentration (ERC; 2 mg L−1) is less characterized. Against this backdrop, the effects of Cr [VI] in ERC on zebrafish liver has been investigated in this study. Fluorescence microscopy and gel electrophoresis detected excess DNA damage and cell death via apoptosis in 2 mg L−1 Cr [VI]-treated fish when compared with that of control. Besides, there were transcriptional activations of p53, Bax, Caspase 9 and Caspase 3 genes but downregulation of Bcl2 gene in the treated group, confirming the apoptotic pathway. Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) data showed significant (p < 0.05) increase in hepatic content of Cr, selenium, iron, manganese, calcium, sulfur and magnesium but depletion of zinc, copper and cobalt in the treated group. Collectively, the study shows that even a low, ERC of Cr [VI] is toxic to the zebrafish as it elicited marked apoptosis in the hepatocytes and altered the liver elemental profile.

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their gratitude to the Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS)-Phase II programmer of University Grants Commission, New Delhi. PS is grateful to UGC for the Meritorious Fellowship. PM is grateful to the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research for his Fellowship. ADB is grateful to the DST-INSPIRE fellowship. The authors are grateful to SAIC, Tezpur University (Assam) for the AAS studies to determine the concentration of Cr in treatment water.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Toxicology and Cancer Biology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, West Bengal, 731235, India

    Pallab Shaw, Paritosh Mondal, Arpan Dey Bhowmik, Arindam Bandyopadhyay & Ansuman Chattopadhyay

  2. UGC-DAE Consortium for Scientific Research, Kolkata Centre, 3/LB-8, Bidhan Nagar, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700098, India

    Muthammal Sudarshan & Anindita Chakraborty

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  1. Pallab Shaw
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  2. Paritosh Mondal
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  3. Arpan Dey Bhowmik
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Correspondence to Ansuman Chattopadhyay.

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Shaw, P., Mondal, P., Dey Bhowmik, A. et al. Environmentally Relevant Hexavalent Chromium Disrupts Elemental Homeostasis and Induces Apoptosis in Zebrafish Liver. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 108, 716–724 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-021-03427-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-021-03427-w

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