RESUMO
Biological impairments due to mercury discharge into the environment are now an issue of global concern. From the three forms of mercury found in aquatic ecosystems, the immunotoxic effects of mercury chloride were examined in the model animal, the blue mussel. In order to investigate the toxic potency of this chemical, three exposure regimes were carried out: chronic exposure of groups of individuals, a new protocol "in tubo" designed for sub-acute exposures of individuals, and acute exposures of target cells. Chronic exposure revealed significant immunotoxic effects after 7 days at 10(-6)M, while acute exposures showed significant inhibition of phagocytosis at 10(-4)M and 10(-3)M. In sub-acute exposures both circulating haemocytes and haemocyte mortality increased at 10(-4)M and 10(-3)M while phagocytosis and the clearance rate drew hormetic toxic effects on healthy individuals. These results suggest the use of the "in tubo" design for bivalve toxicological individual studies.
Assuntos
Cloreto de Mercúrio/toxicidade , Mytilus edulis/imunologia , Animais , Morte Celular , Hemócitos/efeitos dos fármacos , Hemócitos/patologia , Cloreto de Mercúrio/imunologia , Cloreto de Mercúrio/farmacocinética , Mytilus edulis/efeitos dos fármacos , Mytilus edulis/metabolismo , Fagocitose/efeitos dos fármacos , Testes de ToxicidadeAssuntos
Biotecnologia/economia , Indústria Farmacêutica/economia , Propriedade Intelectual , Política Pública , Apoio à Pesquisa como Assunto/legislação & jurisprudência , Publicidade , Biotecnologia/legislação & jurisprudência , Canadá , Indústria Farmacêutica/legislação & jurisprudência , Humanos , Apoio à Pesquisa como Assunto/economiaRESUMO
Male smooth flounder (Pleuronectes putnami) were induced to produce vitellogenin (VTG) by injection of 17beta-estradiol (E2). Anion exchange chromatography of precipitated plasma from E2-injected resulted in a single peak consisting of VTG. Smooth flounder VTG has an approximate molecular mass of approximately 520 kDa, determined by gel filtration with molecular weight standards. Purified VTG was used to develop a homologous enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The flounder VTG ELISA is an indirect antigen competition assay with a detection limit of 15 ng.ml(-1) and a useful range of 30-950 ng.ml(-1) of diluted sample. Intra- and inter-assay precision (as %CV, n=7) ranged from 1.3% to 6.0% and 5.1%, respectively. The ELISA was evaluated using plasma samples collected from a smooth flounder population captured in the Saint Lawrence Estuary. The ELISA is sensitive enough to differentiate males and non-vitellogenic females from vitellogenic individuals during early vitellogenesis.