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Antioxidant response and histopathological changes in brain tissue of pigeon exposed to avermectin

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Abstract

Avermectins (AVMs) are the active components of some insecticidal and nematicidal products used in agriculture and veterinary medicine for the prevention of parasitic diseases. Residues of AVM drugs or their metabolites in livestock feces have toxic effects on non-target aquatic and terrestrial organisms. In this study, oxidative stress responses and pathological changes on pigeon brain tissues and serum after subchronic exposure to AVM for 30, 60 and 90 days were investigated. The decrease in antioxidant enzyme (superoxide dismutase, SOD and glutathione peroxidase, GSH-Px) activities and increase in methane dicarboxylic aldehyde content in a dose–time-dependent manner in the brain and serum of pigeon were observed. The protein carbonyl content, an indicator of protein oxidation, and DNA–protein crosslink coefficient were significantly augmented with dose–time-dependent properties. The microscopic structures of the cerebrum, cerebellum and optic lobe altered obviously, the severity of which increased with the concentration of AVM and exposure time. The results imply that AVM could induce oxidative damage to the brain tissue and serum of pigeon. The information presented in this study is helpful to understand the mechanism of AVM-induced oxidative stress in birds.

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Abbreviations

AVM:

Avermectin

AVMs:

Avermectins

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

GSH-Px:

Glutathione peroxidase

MDA:

Methane dicarboxylic aldehyde

PCO:

Protein carbonyl

DPC:

DNA–protein crosslink

PBS:

Phosphate buffered saline

SDS:

Sodium dodecyl sulfate

DNPH:

2,4-Dinitrophenylhydrazine

HEPES:

2-Hydroxyethyl

PMSF:

Phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride

EDTA:

Ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid

TCA:

Trichloroacetic acid

BSA:

Bovine serum albumin

ATR:

Atrazine

CPF:

Chlorpyrifos

LPO:

Lipid peroxidation

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful for financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 30972226), Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (Grant No. 20102325110014) and Foundation for University Key Teacher by the Heilongjiang Province (Grant No. 1155G11).

Ethical standards

All pigeon experiments were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Northeast Agricultural University under the approved protocol number SRM-06.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that we have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, People’s Republic of China

    Ming Li, Tian-Zi You, Wen-Jun Zhu, Jian-Ping Qu, Ci Liu, Bing Zhao, Shi-Wen Xu & Shu Li

  2. School of Life Science, Daqing Normal College, Daqing, 163712, People’s Republic of China

    Ming Li

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  1. Ming Li
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  2. Tian-Zi You
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  3. Wen-Jun Zhu
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  8. Shu Li
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Correspondence to Shu Li.

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Ming Li and Tian-Zi You contributed equally to this work.

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Li, M., You, TZ., Zhu, WJ. et al. Antioxidant response and histopathological changes in brain tissue of pigeon exposed to avermectin. Ecotoxicology 22, 1241–1254 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-013-1112-7

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