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Oxidative stress biomarkers in freshwater fish Carassius auratus exposed to decabromodiphenyl ether and ethane, or their mixture

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Abstract

Decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209) and its commercial alternative decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) are two structurally similar brominated flame retardants, with evidence of their ubiquitous existence in aquatic ecosystems. The present study was conducted to investigate the hepatic oxidative stress inducing potential of BDE-209, DBDPE, and their mixture in Carassius auratus after exposure to different doses (10, 50 and 100 mg/kg) for 7, 14 and 30 days. Results showed that oxidative stress was evoked evidently for the experimental groups with longer exposure duration, as indicated by significant inhibition in the antioxidant enzymes activities and decrease in the reduced glutathione level, as well as simultaneous elevation of lipid peroxidation level measured by malondialdehyde content. In addition, it was found that BDE-209 possessed a higher oxidative stress inducing ability than DBDPE. Considering the more pronounced antioxidant responses in combined exposure, the interaction of BDE-209 and DBDPE was presumed to be additive action.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41071319, 20977046, 20737001), the National Basic Research Program of China (2009CB42160-4), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (No. 1112021101) and the Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment of China (No. 2012ZX07506-001).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210046, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

    Mingbao Feng, Ying Li, Ruijuan Qu, Liansheng Wang & Zunyao Wang

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  1. Mingbao Feng
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Feng, M., Li, Y., Qu, R. et al. Oxidative stress biomarkers in freshwater fish Carassius auratus exposed to decabromodiphenyl ether and ethane, or their mixture. Ecotoxicology 22, 1101–1110 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-013-1097-2

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