Effects of marine noise pollution on Mediterranean fishes and invertebrates: A review.

Marine noise pollution (MNP) can cause a multitude of impacts on many organisms, but information is often scattered and general outcomes difficult to assess. We have reviewed the literature on MNP impacts on Mediterranean fish and invertebrates. Both chronic and acute MNP produced by various human activities - e.g. maritime traffic, pile driving, air guns - were found to cause detectable effects on intra-specific communication, vital processes, physiology, behavioral patterns, health status and survival. These effects on individuals can extend to inducing population- and ecosystem-wide alterations, especially when MNP impacts functionally important species, such as keystone predators and habitat forming species. Curbing the threats of MNP in the Mediterranean Sea is a challenging task, but a variety of measures could be adopted to mitigate MNP impacts. Successful measures will require more accurate information on impacts and that effective management of MNP really becomes a priority in the policy makers' agenda.

The nitroxide stable radical tempo prevents metal-induced inhibition of CYP1A1 expression and induction.

Heavy metals are known to provoke oxidative stress in fish liver cells. Because H2O2, OH*- and intracellular superoxide are involved in this oxidation, we investigated the effect of nitroxide radical, 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyl-N-oxyl (abbreviated as TEMPO), a cell-permeable agent possessing antioxidant properties, on CYP1A expression in trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) hepatocytes. 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC) induced the CYP1A-related EROD activity. This induction was inhibited by concomitant exposure to Cd (II), Cu (II), Pb (II) or Zn (II). CYP1A mRNA levels were also reduced. Simultaneous treatment with 3-MC, a heavy metal and TEMPO suppressed both the inhibition of EROD activity and the decrease of CYP1A mRNA expression. These results suggest a working hypothesis that heavy metals produce multiple oxidative effects, including generation of hydroxyl radicals, which could down-regulate CYP1A1 expression. This metal-induced inhibition was prevented by TEMPO, which might protect trout hepatocytes by scavenging free radicals and thus preventing their inhibitory effects on CYP1A induction and expression.

Cadmium-induced apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway in rainbow trout hepatocytes: involvement of oxidative stress.

Cadmium (Cd) induces oxidative stress and apoptosis in trout hepatocytes. We therefore investigated the involvement of the mitochondrial pathway in the initiation of apoptosis and the possible role of oxidative stress in that process. This study demonstrates that hepatocyte exposure to Cd (2, 5 and 10 microM) triggers significant caspase-3, but also caspase-8 and -9 activation in a dose-dependent manner. Western-blot analysis of hepatocyte mitochondrial and cytosolic fractions revealed that cytochrome c (Cyt c) was released in the cytosol in a dose-dependent manner, whereas the pro-apoptotic protein Bax was redistributed to mitochondria after 24 and 48 h exposure. We also found that the expression of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-xL, known to be regulated under mild oxidative stress to protect cells from apoptosis, did not change after 3 and 6 h exposure to Cd, then increased after 24 and 48 h exposure to 10 microM Cd. In the second part of this work, two antioxidant agents, 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyl-1-oxyl (TEMPO) (100 microM) and N-acetylcysteine (NAC, 100 microM) were used to determine the involvement of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in Cd-induced apoptosis. Simultaneously exposing trout hepatocytes to Cd and TEMPO or NAC significantly reduced caspase-3 activation after 48 h and had a suppressive effect on caspase-8 and -9 also, mostly after 24 h. Lastly, the presence of either one of these antioxidants in the treatment medium also attenuated Cd-induced Cyt c release in cytosol and the level of Bax in the mitochondria after 24 and 48 h, while high Bcl-xL expression was observed. Taken together, these data clearly evidenced the key role of mitochondria in the cascade of events leading to trout hepatocyte apoptosis in response to Cd and the relationship that exists between oxidative stress and cell death.

Cadmium induces apoptosis and genotoxicity in rainbow trout hepatocytes through generation of reactive oxygene species.

Cadmium poses a serious environmental threat in aquatic ecosystems but the mechanisms of its toxicity remain unclear. The purpose of this work was first to determine whether cadmium induced apoptosis in trout hepatocytes, second to determine whether or not reactive oxygen species (ROS) were involved in cadmium-induced apoptosis and genotoxicity. Hepatocytes exposed to increasing cadmium concentrations (in the range of 1-10 microM) showed a molecular hallmark of apoptosis which is the fragmentation of the nuclear DNA into oligonucleosomal-length fragments, resulting from an activation of endogenous endonucleases and recognized as a 'DNA ladder' on conventional agarose gel electrophoresis. Exposure of hepatocytes to cadmium led clearly to the DEVD-dependent protease activation, acting upstream from the endonucleases and considered as central mediators of apoptosis. DNA strand breaks in cadmium-treated trout hepatocytes was assessed using the comet assay, a rapid and sensitive single-cell gel electrophoresis technique used to detect DNA primary damage in individual cells. Simultaneous treatment of trout hepatocytes with cadmium and the nitroxide radical TEMPO used as a ROS scavenger, reduced significantly DNA fragmentation, DEVD-related protease activity and DNA strand breaks formation. These results lead to a working hypothesis that cadmium-induced apoptosis and DNA strand breaks in trout hepatocytes are partially triggered by the generation of ROS. Additional studies are required for proposing a mechanistic model of cadmium-induced apoptosis and genotoxicity in trout liver cells, in underlying the balance between DNA damage and cellular defence systems in fish.

Toxic effects of wastewaters collected at upstream and downstream sites of a purification station in cultures of rainbow trout hepatocytes.

The toxic effects of wastewater samples, collected in December 1998, from upstream (U) and downstream (D) sites of the purification station of the town of Nice (South-East France on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea) were assessed undiluted and at various dilutions (75%, 50%, and 25% of collected water sample), on trout hepatocyte cultures treated for 48 or 72 h. Chemical contamination (PCBs, PAHs, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) was also evaluated by chemical analysis. The water samples from the upstream site were more cytotoxic than those from the downstream site. The induction of CYP1A enzyme and metallothioneins (MTs) were selected as specific indicators of exposure to organic contaminants and metals, respectively. CYP1A-related EROD activity as well as protein expression were found to be greatly induced after 72 h exposure of the hepatocytes to the undiluted water samples (U(100%) and D(100%)), but CYP1A1 mRNA was significantly overexpressed only by samples from the upstream site. Maximal MT levels were reached after 48 h of treatment with the least concentrated water samples (U(25%) and D(25%)). Glutathione S-transferase (GST) activities were similarly increased under the same conditions. On the other hand, there was no significant glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity response. Induction of apoptosis was analyzed by using as markers both the fragmentation of the nuclear DNA into oligonucleosomal-length fragments recognized as a "DNA ladder" and the activation of DEVD (Asp-Glu-Val-Asp)-dependent protease considered as the central mediator of programmed cell death. Significant DNA cleavage was only detectable after 72-h exposure to the most concentrated water samples from upstream sites (U(75%) and U(100%)). DEVD-dependent protease activities were significantly increased, mainly in cells exposed to U(75%) and D(25%) for 72 h. In addition, pollution-related DNA damage assessed by using the Comet assay was approximatively 1.5 times greater than that of the control level with the undiluted water samples U(100%) and D(100%), after 72-h and 48-h exposure, respectively. The present study shows that such a multibiomarker-based approach could provide complementary information, for aquatic pollution monitoring, about the early biochemical effects in cells exposed to complex chemical pollution and could be considered as early warning systems to aquatic pollution.