Dietary transference of 17α-ethinylestradiol changes the biochemical and behavioral biomarkers in adult zebrafish (Danio rerio).

ABSTRACT

The endocrine disruptors (ED), even in low concentration, can change the homeostasis of an organism through the biochemical and physiological pathways; and are gaining more relevance due to their well-reported presence in the natural environment. EDs mainly affect non-target animals, which can bioaccumulate, leading to changes in metabolism. Another problem is due to several organisms that compose the aquatic biota serving as a basis of the food chain and transferring it to higher trophic levels. Here we evaluated the dietary transference of 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), in adult zebrafish chronically fed by EE2-bioaccumulated brine shrimp (BS). For this, we evaluated behavioral biomarkers such as the novel tank test (NTT), social preference test (SPT), mirror-induced aggressivity (MIA), and biochemical biomarkers such as acetylcholinesterase (AChE), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CTL), and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity, cortisol, and lipid peroxidation levels in adult zebrafish. The behavioral effects can be explained by the changed effects on acetylcholinesterase activity as well as in the antioxidant system mainly affected by the high levels of EE2 identified by HPLC shown that had occurred during a dietary transfer for fish. EE2 has a potential pattern for bioaccumulation and dietary transfer in biological tissue and EE2 can affect the behavior of fish. The observed effects could be dangerous to the environment, affecting, other animals and even human health.