PROBIEN   20416
INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACION Y DESARROLLO EN INGENIERIA DE PROCESOS, BIOTECNOLOGIA Y ENERGIAS ALTERNATIVAS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Sublethal concentrations of azinphos-methyl induce biochemical and morphological alterations in Rhinella arenarum embryos
Autor/es:
LASCANO CECILIA; FERRARI ANA; VENTURINO ANDRÉS
Revista:
CHEMISTRY AND ECOLOGY
Editorial:
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
Referencias:
Año: 2011 vol. 27 p. 557 - 568
ISSN:
0275-7540
Resumen:
Considering that amphibians are good sentinels of environmental conditions, Rhinella arenarum embryos were used to investigate the effects of sublethal concentrations of the organophosphorus insecticide azinphos-methyl, focusing on its anticholinesterasic or pro-oxidant actions and its possible connectionwith the appearance of morphological alterations. Early amphibian embryos exposed to azinphos-methyl dis- played a protective response through glutathione S-transferase induction, along with superoxide dismutase inhibition. At intermediate embryonic stages, embryos exposed to azinphos-methyl displayed superox- ide dismutase inhibition and morphological alterations, although cholinesterase activity was not altered, suggesting thatmolecular targets other than cholinesterasewere involved in the development ofmorpholog- ical alterations.At the end of embryonic development, decreases in reduced glutathione and cholinesterase inhibition were observed, along with a significant increase in the number of malformed embryos. The connection between biochemical alterations and the appearance of malformations was not evident in R. arenarum embryos. However, increased glutathione S-transferase and decreased superoxide dismu- tase activities could be considered as early markers of exposure to azinphos-methyl. The results obtained demonstrate that sublethal concentrations of azinphos-methyl are a serious threat to toad embryos in their natural habitats because biochemical and morphological alterations could impair their ability to deal with environmental stresses.