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Seasonal variation of Sarpa salpa fish toxicity, as related to phytoplankton consumption, accumulation of heavy metals, lipids peroxidation level in fish tissues and toxicity upon mice

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Abstract

The aim of this work was to investigate for Sarpa salpa the seasonal trend in the food sources, heavy metals bioaccumulation and the oxidative stress in the organs. In addition, the toxicity was assessed by mouse bioassay of extract of the fish's organs collected in autumn, the peak of occurrence of hallucinatory syndrome. The toxicity was further studied for compounds present in epiphyte collected from the sea at the end of spring and in summer that are digested by the S. salpa in these seasons. We observed a higher lipid peroxydation in different tissues of S. salpa compared to the control fish Diplodus annularis. Furthermore, heavy metals accumulation in organs of these fish showed a significant variation between the two species (P < 0.05). The lethal dose (LD50%) determined for crude ciguatoxin (neurotoxins) extracts of viscera, liver, brain and muscle of S. salpa were as follows: 1.217, 2.195, 14.395, 18.645 g/kg mouse, respectively. We noticed a significant correlation (P < 0.05) between the total amount of toxic dinoflagellates and the level of TBARS in the liver, the brain and the muscle, this for all seasons and all sizes. Moreover, the cytotoxic effect observed for epiphytes extract confirms the transfer of toxins originating from toxic dinoflagellates, which live as epiphytes on P. oceanica leaves, to the fish by grazing. Our work indicates that, toxic phytoplanktons and heavy metals accumulation are responsible for the increase of oxidative stress in the organs of S. salpa. Hence, the edible part of S. salpa, especially the viscera and liver, can cause a threat to human health, and consumption should, for this reason, be dissuaded.

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Abbreviations

S. salpa :

Sarpa salpa

D. annularis :

Diplodus annularis

VI:

vacuity index

TBARS:

thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances

P. oceanica :

Posidonia oceanica

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sciences Faculty of Sfax, BP 1171, 3000, Sfax, Tunisia

    Khaled Bellassoued & Abdelfatteh Elfeki

  2. National Institute of Sciences and Technologies of the Sea, Sfax, Tunisia

    Khaled Bellassoued & Asma Hamza

  3. Liver Research Facility/Laboratory of Hepatology, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Gebouw Onderwijs en Navorsing 1, bus 703, Herestraat 49, Leuven, Belgium

    Jos van Pelt

  4. Laboratory of Animal Ecophysiology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Sfax, BP 1171, 3000, Sfax, Tunisia

    Khaled Bellassoued

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  1. Khaled Bellassoued
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Bellassoued, K., Hamza, A., van Pelt, J. et al. Seasonal variation of Sarpa salpa fish toxicity, as related to phytoplankton consumption, accumulation of heavy metals, lipids peroxidation level in fish tissues and toxicity upon mice. Environ Monit Assess 185, 1137–1150 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2621-1

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