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Arsenic-induced responses in freshwater teleosts

Fish Physiology and Biochemistry volume 33, pages 463–473 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

The environment is currently polluted by thousands of chemicals or xenobiotics introduced into the environment by man to meet the demands of the modern era. Every day we encounter this negative side of human civilization, but have done little to lessen the rate of pollution. Although the entire biosphere is polluted it is water resources that are the most polluted because water is the ultimate sink for many contaminants. Thus, fish are the most vulnerable of all animal species. They are helpless because they cannot avoid the polluted habitat and face this contamination by default. Nevertheless, fish are found to survive under extreme conditions when their natural habitat has been compromised to a great extent. However, fish are highly sensitive to small environmental changes and their populations gradually dwindle if pollution continues unabated. However, we know that there are instances when water is cleaned and the rate of repopulation by different fish species has gained momentum, restoring the ecological balance. Thus, fish are considered reliable bioindicators of water pollution and fish ecotoxicology has received much attention in recent years, and fish toxicology has been able to defend a significant position in the arena of xenobiotics research over the years. This review deals with some of the major intoxication and detoxication signals manifested by fish exposed to arsenic (As), which is presently one of the most worrying metalloids in water pollution.

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Abbreviations

ACh:

Acetylcholine

AChE:

Acetylcholinesterase

ACOX:

Acyl co-A oxidase

CD:

Conjugated dienes

GPx:

Glutathione peroxidase

GR:

Glutathione reductase

GSH:

Glutathione reduced

GSSG:

Glutathione oxidized

GST:

Glutathione-S-transferase

HSP -70:

Heat shock protein 70

LPO:

Lipid peroxidation

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

MT:

Metallothionein

NAC:

N-acetyl-cysteine

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

–SH:

Thiol groups

TBARS:

Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, where AB and SR were Senior Research Fellows, for financial support [F-4(16)/98-ASR-I]. The authors would also like to thank the UGC for the DSA support to the Department, which enabled the study.

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  1. Department of Zoology, Environmental Toxicology Laboratory, Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan, 731235, India

    S. Bhattacharya, A. Bhattacharya & S. Roy

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  1. S. Bhattacharya
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  2. A. Bhattacharya
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  3. S. Roy
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Correspondence to S. Bhattacharya.

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Bhattacharya, S., Bhattacharya, A. & Roy, S. Arsenic-induced responses in freshwater teleosts. Fish Physiol Biochem 33, 463–473 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-007-9173-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-007-9173-2

Keywords

  • Arsenic
  • AChE–ACh system
  • Detoxication
  • GSH–GST system
  • HSP
  • Intoxication
  • Lipid peroxidation
  • Metallothionein
  • ROS

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