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Impact of heavy metals contamination on biology, biochemical, and histology of Eobania vermiculata and Monacha obstructa

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Abstract

Object

Land snails are found to be an appropriate sentinel organism, and the biomarkers chosen are effective for terrestrial heavy metal biomonitoring. The study aimed to compare the biological, biochemistry, and histology of two land snails in the Ismailia governorate, Egypt.

Methods

Random snails were collected from January 2015 to December 2015 from two sites in the Ismailia Governorate. The study used morphometric parameters and oxidative stress as well as histopathological changes to clarify the impact of heavy metals on two of the land snails.

Results

It was noticed that most of the morphometric parameters were higher in Eobania vermiculata (Sp. 1) than in Monacha obstructa (Sp. 2). In the more polluted areas with heavy metals, lipid peroxidation (LPO) and total protein contents were changed in the snails. The snails displayed lower levels of glutathione (GSH) as compared to snails at a less polluted site. GSH and LPO levels have a negative relationship between them. Histopathological alterations in the digestive gland were more obvious in the general architecture of the digestive gland which had lost its tubular appearance. The excretory cells showed an increase in their excretory granules’ number and size while calcium cells decreased. Gonad follicles have lost their normal architecture with the degeneration of some stages of spermatogenesis and oogenesis.

Conclusion

The overall results display the usefulness of E. vermiculata and M. obstructa land snails as bioindicator organisms and support the application of this ecotoxicological approach for evaluating the biological impact of toxins. E. vermiculata is more abundant than M. obstructa. The density, morphometric, biochemical, and histology of E. vermiculata and M. obstructa were different.

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Author notes

  1. Yassmeen S. M. Abd El Mageed, Abd El Fattah Ali Ghobashy, Asma W. Al-Thomali, Maha F. M. Soliman, Amaal Mohammadein and Nahla S. El-Shenawy have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, 41522, Egypt

    Yassmeen S. M. Abd El Mageed, Abd El Fattah Ali Ghobashy, Maha F. M. Soliman & Nahla S. El-Shenawy

  2. Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif, 21944, Saudi Arabia

    Asma W. Al-Thomali & Amaal Mohammadein

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  1. Yassmeen S. M. Abd El Mageed
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  2. Abd El Fattah Ali Ghobashy
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All authors contributed equally.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nahla S. El-Shenawy.

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Conflict of interest

Yassmeen S. M. Abd El mageed, Abd El Fattah Ali Ghobashy, Asma W. Al-Thomali, Maha F. M. Soliman, Amaal Mohammadein, and Nahla S. El-Shenawy declare that we have no conflict of interest.

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All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of snails were followed. This article does not contain any studies involving animals or human performed by any of the authors.

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El Mageed, Y.S.M.A., Ghobashy, A.E.F.A., Al-Thomali, A.W. et al. Impact of heavy metals contamination on biology, biochemical, and histology of Eobania vermiculata and Monacha obstructa. Toxicol. Environ. Health Sci. 15, 19–30 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13530-022-00153-6

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