Effects of weathered polyethylene microplastic ingestion on sexual maturation, fecundity and egg quality in maturing broodstock Atlantic cod Gadus morhua.

Autor: Fernández-Míguez M; Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas, CSIC, Vigo, Spain; Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources, CIM-Universidad de Vigo, Spain., Puvanendran V; Nofima AS, Norway., Burgerhout E; Nofima AS, Norway., Presa P; Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources, CIM-Universidad de Vigo, Spain., Tveiten H; Nofima AS, Norway; UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway., Vorkamp K; Aarhus University, Department of Environmental Science, Roskilde, Denmark., Hansen ØJ; Nofima AS, Norway., Johansson GS; Nofima AS, Norway., Bogevik AS; Nofima AS, Norway. Electronic address: andre.bogevik@nofima.no.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987) [Environ Pollut] 2023 Mar 01; Vol. 320, pp. 121053. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Jan 09.
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121053
Abstrakt: Microplastics (MPs) have become a global issue as they are omnipresent in the ocean. Fish ingesting MPs through feed could be affected in their physiological function, e.g., disrupted enzyme production and function, reduction of feeding and reproductive failure. This study assessed the effects of feed containing naturally weathered MPs from the Oslofjord (Norway) on the reproductive physiology of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). Farmed cod broodstock were fed either control (C-diet) or feeds containing 1% microplastic (MP-diet) starting nine months prior to spawning, from June until May. No major differences were found between diet groups in overall biometrics or gonad histology. Sex steroid levels (testosterone, 11-ketotestosterone and 17β-estradiol) resulted in expected profiles increasing over time without any significant differences between treatments. Gene expression levels of the steroidogenic enzyme 20β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (20β-hsd) and vitellogenin1 (vtg1) showed significant differences between dietary treatments with lower expression in the control group. This can be a direct effect of MPs, but endocrine disrupting effects of potentially leachable plastic additives cannot be completely ruled out. Thus, these enzymes could be indicators of exposure to contaminants that disrupt sexual maturation by affecting the production of primarily maturation-inducing steroid. Although the concentration of MPs employed in this study may not be high enough to elicit any observable short-term biological effects, the observed gene expression suggests that long-term consequences should be considered caused by an expected increase of MPs in marine environments.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz: