Effects of Two Sublethal Concentrations of Mercury Chloride on the Morphology and Metallothionein Activity in the Liver of Zebrafish (Danio rerio) |
| |
Authors: | Rachele Macirella Antonello Guardia Daniela Pellegrino Ilaria Bernabò Valentina Tronci Lars O E Ebbesson Settimio Sesti Sandro Tripepi Elvira Brunelli |
| |
Affiliation: | 1.Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Science, University of Calabria, Via P. Bucci 4/B, Rende (Cosenza) 87036, Italy; (R.M.); (A.G.); (D.P.); (I.B.); (S.S.); (S.T.);2.Uni Research Environment, Uni Research, Bergen 5006, Norway; (V.T.); (L.O.E.E.);3.Department of Biology, University of Bergen, Bergen High Technology Center, Bergen 5020, Norway |
| |
Abstract: | Mercury (Hg) is a highly hazardous pollutant widely used in industrial, pharmaceutical and agricultural fields. Mercury is found in the environment in several forms, elemental, inorganic (iHg) and organic, all of which are toxic. Considering that the liver is the organ primarily involved in the regulation of metabolic pathways, homeostasis and detoxification we investigated the morphological and ultrastructural effects in Danio rerio liver after 96 h exposure to two low HgCl2 concentrations (7.7 and 38.5 μg/L). We showed that a short-term exposure to very low concentrations of iHg severely affects liver morphology and ultrastructure. The main effects recorded in this work were: cytoplasm vacuolization, decrease in both lipid droplets and glycogen granules, increase in number of mitochondria, increase of rough endoplasmic reticulum and pyknotic nuclei. Pathological alterations observed were dose dependent. Trough immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization and real-time PCR analysis, the induction of metallothionein (MT) under stressor conditions was also evaluated. Some of observed alterations could be considered as a general response of tissue to heavy metals, whereas others (such as increased number of mitochondria and increase of RER) may be considered as an adaptive response to mercury. |
| |
Keywords: | inorganic mercury liver acute effects histology ultrastructure confocal microscopy in situ hybridization metallothionein |
|
|