- Email: [email protected]
Biochemical and histologic alterations in bivalve molluscs as indices of pollution: A review
Marine Environmental Research 24 (1988) 251-256
Abstracts
The Biological Effects of Contaminants: Are There any General Rules? BRIAN L. BAYNE. Institute for Marine Environmental Research, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth P L 1 3 D H , Great Britain. It is now well recognized that there are no simple means with which to measure the biological impact of contamination in the marine environment. Responses at different levels of biological complexity provide different kinds of information, and any programme of biological assessment must accommodate a range of measures, from biochemical effects, through effects on the whole organism, to measures of population and community response. It therefore becomes urgent to arrive at a coherent set of ideas that can guide the construction of such a multi-faceted suite of response measurements. This paper discussed recent research, including the results of a Practical Workshop which was designed to evaluate various measures of biological response, to consider five questions: (1) What is the most appropriate environmental context for such 'biological effects' studies? (2) Is there a theoretical context that may provide coherence? (3) Is there a logical sequence of cause and effect that may link studies through the different levels of complexity? (4) What is the most appropriate framework to allow the results of this research to be used in practice? (5) What outstanding problems remain? None of these questions are presently answerable in full, although partial answers are possible, and should be attempted if only as a means of prompting fuller discussion. In suggesting some answers, some recent research on the effects of environmental stress on physiological processes which appear to have genetical correlates was reviewed. Such studies show some potential for linking responses at the whole organism level with aspects of population effect, and it is suggested that this link provides a major challenge for research in the future.
Biochemical and Histologic Alterations in Bivalve Molluscs as Indices of Pollution: A Review. JERRY M. NEFF. Battelle New England Marine Research Laboratory, Duxbury, Massachusetts 02332, USA. 251 Marine Environ. Res. (24)(1988)---© 1988ElsevierApplied SciencePublishers Ltd, England. Printed in Great Britain
252
Abstracts
Marine bivalve molluscs are used extensively to monitor the current status and long-term trends in chemical pollution of estuarine and coastal marine environments. The utility of analyses of body burdens of chemical pollutants in bivalves as an index of marine environmental quality would be enhanced greatly if these analyses were combined with measurements of the health of the bivalve populations being monitored. A wide variety of biochemical and histologic alterations have been reported in bivalves exposed in the laboratory or field to pollutant chemicals and other stressors. Some of these alterations are generalized responses to stress: other are specific responses to particular types of pathogens, chemicals, or environmental conditions. The different types of biochemical and histologic stress responses in bivalves were reviewed and evaluated in relation to their potential utility as indices of marine environmental quality. The alterations evaluated as possible indices of pollutant-mediated stress in bivalve molluscs include histopathology, enzyme activity, biochemical composition, lysosomal destabilization, metallothionein-like proteins, and mixed function oxygenase components.
The Metabolism and Disposition of 17~-Estradiol in English Sole Exposed to a Contaminated Sediment Extract. J O H N E. STEIN, TOM HOM, HERB SANBORN & USHA VARANASI. Environmental Conservation Division, Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2725 Montlake Boulevard E., Seattle, Washington 98112, USA. Exposure of fish to anthropogenic chemicals that induce xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes may lead to altered levels of 17/3-estradiol (E2), which is directly involved in the control of vitellogenin synthesis in fish. Accordingly, the effects of pretreatment of English sole with xenobiotics extracted from an urban sediment on the in vivo disposition of 3H-E2 was assessed. In these studies, juvenile sole were given an i.m. injection (0"5 ml/kg fish) of either Duwamish River sediment extract (DRSE; 50g sediment extracted/kg fish) or vehicle (acetone: Emulphor 620, 1:1) followed two days later by an i.p. injection of 3H-E2 (0.02 pg/kg fish). Liver, bile, urine and plasma were sampled 1-18 h after exposure to 3H-E2. The levels of E 2derived radioactivity in plasma and liver of DRSE-treated sole sampled at 2-8 h after exposure were significantly lower than the respective levels in vehicle-treated sole. The concentration of E2-derived radioactivity in bile of DRSE-treated sole at 18 h was significantly greater than for vehicle-treated sole. Treatment of tissue and fluid samples from both groups of sole with/3glucuronidase or arylsulfatase followed by HPLC analyses of chloroform
Abstracts
The Biological Effects of Contaminants: Are There any General Rules? BRIAN L. BAYNE. Institute for Marine Environmental Research, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth P L 1 3 D H , Great Britain. It is now well recognized that there are no simple means with which to measure the biological impact of contamination in the marine environment. Responses at different levels of biological complexity provide different kinds of information, and any programme of biological assessment must accommodate a range of measures, from biochemical effects, through effects on the whole organism, to measures of population and community response. It therefore becomes urgent to arrive at a coherent set of ideas that can guide the construction of such a multi-faceted suite of response measurements. This paper discussed recent research, including the results of a Practical Workshop which was designed to evaluate various measures of biological response, to consider five questions: (1) What is the most appropriate environmental context for such 'biological effects' studies? (2) Is there a theoretical context that may provide coherence? (3) Is there a logical sequence of cause and effect that may link studies through the different levels of complexity? (4) What is the most appropriate framework to allow the results of this research to be used in practice? (5) What outstanding problems remain? None of these questions are presently answerable in full, although partial answers are possible, and should be attempted if only as a means of prompting fuller discussion. In suggesting some answers, some recent research on the effects of environmental stress on physiological processes which appear to have genetical correlates was reviewed. Such studies show some potential for linking responses at the whole organism level with aspects of population effect, and it is suggested that this link provides a major challenge for research in the future.
Biochemical and Histologic Alterations in Bivalve Molluscs as Indices of Pollution: A Review. JERRY M. NEFF. Battelle New England Marine Research Laboratory, Duxbury, Massachusetts 02332, USA. 251 Marine Environ. Res. (24)(1988)---© 1988ElsevierApplied SciencePublishers Ltd, England. Printed in Great Britain
252
Abstracts
Marine bivalve molluscs are used extensively to monitor the current status and long-term trends in chemical pollution of estuarine and coastal marine environments. The utility of analyses of body burdens of chemical pollutants in bivalves as an index of marine environmental quality would be enhanced greatly if these analyses were combined with measurements of the health of the bivalve populations being monitored. A wide variety of biochemical and histologic alterations have been reported in bivalves exposed in the laboratory or field to pollutant chemicals and other stressors. Some of these alterations are generalized responses to stress: other are specific responses to particular types of pathogens, chemicals, or environmental conditions. The different types of biochemical and histologic stress responses in bivalves were reviewed and evaluated in relation to their potential utility as indices of marine environmental quality. The alterations evaluated as possible indices of pollutant-mediated stress in bivalve molluscs include histopathology, enzyme activity, biochemical composition, lysosomal destabilization, metallothionein-like proteins, and mixed function oxygenase components.
The Metabolism and Disposition of 17~-Estradiol in English Sole Exposed to a Contaminated Sediment Extract. J O H N E. STEIN, TOM HOM, HERB SANBORN & USHA VARANASI. Environmental Conservation Division, Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2725 Montlake Boulevard E., Seattle, Washington 98112, USA. Exposure of fish to anthropogenic chemicals that induce xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes may lead to altered levels of 17/3-estradiol (E2), which is directly involved in the control of vitellogenin synthesis in fish. Accordingly, the effects of pretreatment of English sole with xenobiotics extracted from an urban sediment on the in vivo disposition of 3H-E2 was assessed. In these studies, juvenile sole were given an i.m. injection (0"5 ml/kg fish) of either Duwamish River sediment extract (DRSE; 50g sediment extracted/kg fish) or vehicle (acetone: Emulphor 620, 1:1) followed two days later by an i.p. injection of 3H-E2 (0.02 pg/kg fish). Liver, bile, urine and plasma were sampled 1-18 h after exposure to 3H-E2. The levels of E 2derived radioactivity in plasma and liver of DRSE-treated sole sampled at 2-8 h after exposure were significantly lower than the respective levels in vehicle-treated sole. The concentration of E2-derived radioactivity in bile of DRSE-treated sole at 18 h was significantly greater than for vehicle-treated sole. Treatment of tissue and fluid samples from both groups of sole with/3glucuronidase or arylsulfatase followed by HPLC analyses of chloroform