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Microplastics cause neurotoxicity, oxidative damage and energy-related changes and interact with the bioaccumulation of mercury in the European seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax (Linnaeus, 1758)
Open accessAbstract
Microplastics pollution is a global paradigm that raises concern in relation to environmental and human health. This study investigated toxic effects of microplastics and mercury in the European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax), a marine fish widely used as food for humans. A short-term (96 h) laboratory bioassay was done by exposing juvenile fish to microplastics (0.26 and 0.69 mg/L), mercury (0.010 and 0.016 mg/L) and binary mixtures of the two substances using the same concentrations, through test media. Microplastics alone and mercury alone caused neurotoxicity through acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition, increased lipid oxidation (LPO) in brain and muscle, and changed the activities of the energy-related enzymes lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH). All the mixtures caused significant inhibition of brain AChE activity (64-76%), and significant increase of LPO levels in brain (2.9-3.4 fold) and muscle (2.2-2.9 fold) but not in a concentration-dependent manner; mixtures containing low and high concentrations of microplastics caused different effects on IDH and LDH activity. Mercury was found to accumulate in the brain and muscle, with bioaccumulation factors of 4-7 and 25-40, respectively. Moreover, in the analysis of mercury concentrations in both tissues, a significant interaction between mercury and microplastics was found. The decay of mercury in the water increased with microplastics concentration, and was higher in the presence of fish than in their absence. Overall, these results indicate that: microplastics influence the bioaccumulation of mercury by D. labrax juveniles; microplastics, mercury and their mixtures (ppb range concentrations) cause neurotoxicity, oxidative stress and damage, and changes in the activities of energy-related enzymes in juveniles of this species; mixtures with the lowest and highest concentrations of their components induced different effects on some biomarkers. These findings and other published in the literature raise concern regarding high level predators and humans consuming fish being exposed to microplastics and heavy metals, and highlight the need of more research on the topic.
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“Previous studies, under experimental conditions, evidenced the harmful effects of MPs ingestion in the brain of sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax). MPs caused neurotoxicity through acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition and increased lipid oxidation (LPO) [64].”
From Is Wild Marine Biota Affected by Microplastics? (2022) · cites this paper as [64]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Barboza, L. G. A., Vieira, L. R., Branco, V., Figueiredo, N., Carvalho, F., Carvalho, C., & Guilhermino, L.
- Affiliations
- Ministry of Education (BR)
- Universidade do Porto (PT)
- University of Lisbon (PT)
- Corresponding author
- Barboza, Luís Gabriel Antão
- ORCID
- Venue
- Aquatic Toxicology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-02
- Volume
- 195
- Pages
- 49-57
- ISSN
- 0166-445X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2779948902
- Cited by
- 766
- References
- 74
- Citations by year
- 2026: 72 · 2025: 97 · 2024: 108 · 2023: 109 · 2022: 129 · 2021: 104 · 2020: 85 · 2019: 44 · 2018: 18
- FWCI
- 18.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Aquatic Toxicology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- European Regional Development Fund
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Mercury impact and mitigation studies
- Keywords
- microplastics, mercury, Dicentrarchus labrax, neurotoxicity, acetylcholinesterase inhibition, lipid peroxidation, oxidative stress, energy metabolism enzymes, lactate dehydrogenase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, bioaccumulation, mercury bioaccumulation, heavy metals, marine fish
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Bass, Biological Assay, Brain, Energy Metabolism, Environmental Monitoring, Humans, Mercury, Plastics, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Biomarkers, Oxidative Stress
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