Metabolic enzymes evaluation in relation to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals tissue concentrations in Ramnogaster arcuata in Bahía Blanca Estuary

RONDA, ANA CAROLINA; OLIVA, ANA L.; LABUDÍA, ANA; ANDRÉS H. ARIAS; ORAZI, MELINA MIRTA; BOTTÉ, S.; MARCOVECCHIO, JORGE E.

Rio de Janeiro

Congreso; International Conference on Ecohydrology for security of aquatic systems and societies; 2017

UNESCO IHP,International Centrefor Coastal Ecohydrology of UNESCO, & EU Erasmus-Mundus Master Course in Ecohydrology

Anthropogenic activity in Bahía Blanca Estuary (BBE), Argentina, causes a chronic input of pollutants with continuous environmental alteration. Quality of marine water in this area has been through quantification of Polycyclics Aromatics Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and Heavy Metals (HMs). However, these studies have not considered their ecotoxicological effects on marine organisms. In this work, biochemical parameters were analyzed in muscle and liver of Ramnogaster arcuata (resident fish species in BBE) in relation to concentration of 17 PAHs and 6 HMs in muscle. Fishes were collected in spring of 2015 choosing a size class (80-100 mm). Protein content and activity of enzymes in muscle and liver were determined using commercial kits. PAHs were determined through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry while HMs were determined by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy.We found that R. arcuata muscle have low-moderate PAHs levels. In liver tissue, AST and ALT activity correlated positively with some PAHs. In muscle tissue, AST correlated positively with few PAHs and LDH correlated negatively with most of them. On the other hand, we have found very low concentrations of HMs in muscle. However, in liver tissue most of the enzymes activity correlated negatively with them while in muscle tissue only LDH correlated negatively with Cr.Taken together results obtained suggest that metabolic enzymes in muscle are related with PAHs concentration while in liver are related with HMs concentration, suggesting that these enzymes could be used as diagnostic tools to evaluate the differential ecotoxicity of contaminants in R. arcuata from BBE.