Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the genotoxic and morphological systemic effects of both an acute and a chronic exposure of bullfrog tadpoles to fipronil. Lithobates catesbeianus tadpoles had morphological biomarkers (skin, liver, and blood) analyzed at Gosner stages 36–38, when exposed to four different concentrations of Regent® 800 WG (80% fipronil): 0.00 (control), 0.04, 0.08, 0.4 mg/L, and four experimental times: 4, 8, 12, and 16 days. Body darkness responded directly to the treatment and exposure time. There was a treatment-dependent decrease in darkness of heads and tails. In relation to the biometric analysis, fipronil induced a decrease in the individual weight and liver mass at the end of the experiments, whereas the hepatosomatic index did not vary according to the treatment. For the exposed animals and for the control group, the area of hepatic melanin increased as exposure time increased. Fipronil has genotoxic effects on L. catesbeianus tadpoles even after short exposure times (e.g., 4 and 8 days), and the main nuclear abnormality is in the anucleate cells. A relevant correlation was observed between genotoxic biomarkers and cutaneous and internal melanin. The frequency of nuclear abnormalities is inversely correlated both with the hepatic melanin area and with the cutaneous melanin of animals. Fipronil has distinct systemic effects on tadpoles based on its concentration, as well as on its exposure time. Such alterations (pigmentation level and rate of erythrocyte abnormality) result in morphological and physiological effects, which may compromise the behavior and survival of the anurans.
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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Lara S. Gregorio, Lara Z. Fanali, Maysa S. Domingues, and Luciana Trevizan helped with experimental procedures.
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CO has been continuously supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e Tecnológico (CNPq) (# 304552/2019-4) and BSLV received a CAPES-DS scholarship. This study was supported by Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) (grant # 2018/01078-7) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior, Brazil (CAPES) (Finance Code 001).
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ATS: investigation, methodology. BSLV: conceptualization, investigation, methodology, writing original draft, and review. LFB: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, writing original draft, and review and editing. CO: conceptualization, resources, writing original draft, and review and editing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Santos, A.T., Valverde, B.S.L., De Oliveira, C. et al. Genotoxic and melanic alterations in Lithobates catesbeianus (anura) tadpoles exposed to fipronil insecticide. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 20072–20081 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11948-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11948-w