The SSRI fluoxetine exhibits mild effects on the reproductive axis in the cichlid fish Cichlasoma dimerus (Teleostei, Cichliformes)

LUCIANA DORELLE; RODRIGO H. DA CUÑA; GRACIELA REY VAZQUEZ; CHRISTIAN HÖCHT; AKIO SHIMIZU; GRISELDA GENOVESE; FABIANA L. LO NOSTRO

CHEMOSPHERE

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2017 vol. 171 p. 370 - 378

0045-6535

Among the wide variety of pharmaceuticalsreleased into the environment, Fluoxetine (FLX), a selective serotonin reuptakeinhibitor, is one of the most prescribed for the treatment of major depression.It inhibits serotonin (5-HT) reuptake at the presinaptic membrane, increasingserotonergic activity. In vertebrates, including fish, the serotonergic systemis closely related to the Hypothalamic Pituitary Gonadal (HPG) axis whichregulates reproduction. As FLX can act as an endocrine disrupting compound (EDC)by affecting several reproductive parameters in fish, the aim of this study wasto provide an integral assessment of the potential effect of FLX on thereproductive axis of the Neotropical freshwater fish Cichlasoma dimerus. Adult fish were intraperitoneally injected with2 µg g-1 FLX or saline every third day for 15 days. No significantdifferences were found on serotonergic turnover (5-HIAA/5-HT ratio). Pituitary βLHcontent in FLX injected females was significantly higher than control females;no significant differences were seen for βFSH content. Sexsteroids remained unaltered, both in males and females fish, after FLXtreatment. No plasma vitellogenin was induced in treated males. Somealterations were seen in testes of FLX injected males, such as the presence offoam cells and an acidophilic PAS positive, Alcian-Blue negative secretion inthe lobular lumen. Although there is no clear consensus about the effect ofthis drug on reproductive physiology, these results indicate that FLX is actingas a mild EDC in adults of C. dimerus.