Vol. 76 (2) 2024

ARTICLES

Assessment of Seasonal Changes of the Oxidative Status
of Red Mullet Mullus barbatus L. (Actinopterygii: Mullidae) from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coastal Area

Elina R. Tsvetanova*, Albena V. Alexandrova, Almira P. Georgieva, Madlena N. Andreeva & Nesho H. Chipev

More info

*Laboratory of Free Radical Processes, Institute of Neurobiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria; elinaroum@yahoo.com

https://doi.org/10.71424/azb76.2.002780

PDF

Abstract
Oxidative stress (OS) in aquatic organisms is associated with pressures within the marine environment by both anthropogenic and natural factors like pollution, climate change, ecological interactions, etc. These pressures can induce irreversible changes in the organism’s status and health influencing communities and ecosystems as well. Red mullet is a widely distributed and commercially important demersal fish species in the Black Sea. This makes it a promising bioindicator for the state of the marine environment and ecosystem health. This study aimed to investigate the effect of seasonal variations in the marine environment on OS in red mullet from four sites on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast – Kavarna, Kamchiya, St. Vlas and Sozopol. Most of the measured OS biomarkers displayed seasonal variations in the two studied fish organs – liver and gills. In autumn, higher lipid peroxidation levels and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) were presented in the liver of fish from all studied sites. In gills, higher activity of SOD, CAT, GST, and acetylcholinesterase were measured in the summer. In conclusion, the significant local variability of the sea environment quality induced different levels of OS in autumn in the fish liver and in summer in the gills for all studied sites. The measured seasonal fluctuations in the red mullet’s OS biomarkers can be successfully used for biomonitoring and environmental marine risk assessment.

Key words
Black Sea, oxidative stress, red mullet, seasonal variations

How to Cite
Tsvetanova E.R., Alexandrova A.V., Georgieva A.P., Andreeva M.N. & Chipev N.H. 2024. Assessment of Seasonal Changes of the Oxidative Status of Red Mullet Mullus barbatus L. (Actinopterygii: Mullidae) from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coastal Area. Acta zoologica bulgarica 76 (2) 235-239.

References

  1. Ardeshir R. A., Movahedinia A. & Rastgar S. 2017. Fish liver biomarkers for heavy metal pollution: A review article. Am J Toxicol 1: 1–8.
  2. Birnie-Gauvin K., Costantini D., Cooke S. J. & Willmore W. G. 2017. A comparative and evolutionary approach to oxidative stress in fish: a review. Fish and Fisheries 18 (5): 928–942.
  3. Da Rocha A. M., Salomão de Freitas D. P., Burns M., Vieira J. P., de la Torre F. R. & Monserrat J. M. 2009. Seasonal and organ variations in antioxidant capacity, detoxifying competence and oxidative damage in freshwater and estuarine fishes from Southern Brazil. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 150 (4): 512–520.
  4. Frapiccini E., Cocci P., Annibaldi A., Panfili M., Santojanni A., Grilli F., Marini M. & Palermo F. A. 2021. Assessment of seasonal relationship between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon accumulation and expression patterns of oxidative stress-related genes in muscle tissues of red mullet (M. barbatus) from the Northern Adriatic Sea. Environmental toxicology and pharmacology 88: 103752.
  5. Kamel N., Jebali J., Banni M., Ben Khedher S., Chouba L. & Boussetta H. 2012. Biochemical responses and metals levels in Ruditapes decussatus after exposure to treated municipal effluents. Ecotoxicological Environmental Safety 82: 40-46.
  6. Kouali H., Chaouti A., Achtak H., Elkalay K. & Dahbi A. 2022. Contamination and ecological risk assessment of trace metals in surface sediments from coastal areas (El Jadida, Safi and Essaouira) along the Atlantic coast of Morocco. Journal of African Earth Sciences 186: 104417.
  7. Lehninger L., Nelson D. L. & Cox M. M. 2008. Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry. W. H. Freeman & Co, New York, NY, USA, 5th edition.
  8. Panayotova M. & Todorova V. 2015. Diversity and community structure of fish in the Bulgarian Black Sea shelf area. Journal of Research in Agriculture and Animal Science 3 (3): 7–14.
  9. Pavlović S. Z., Mitić S. S. B., Radovanović T. B., Perendija B. R., Despotović S. G., Gavrić J. P. & Saičić Z. S. 2010. Seasonal variations of the activity of antioxidant defence enzymes in the red mullet (Mullus barbatus L.) from the Adriatic Sea. Marine Drugs 8 (3): 413–428.
  10. Pereira P., Pablo H., Vale C. & Pacheco M. 2010. Combined use of environmental data and biomarkers in fish inhabiting a eutrophic and metal-contaminated coastal system – gills reflect environmental contamination. Marine Environmental Research 69 (2): 53.
  11. Recabarren-Villalón T., Ronda A. C., Oliva A. L., Cazorla A. L., Marcovecchio J. E. & Arias A. H. 2021. Seasonal distribution pattern and bioaccumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in four bioindicator coastal fishes of Argentina. Environmental Pollution 291: 118125.
  12. Restivo V. E., Kidd K. A., Surette M. G., Servos M. R. & Wilson J. Y. 2021. Rainbow darter (Etheostoma caeruleum) from a river impacted by municipal wastewater effluents have altered gut content microbiomes. Science in the Total Environment 10 (751): 141724.
  13. Shah Z. U. & Parveen S. 2022. Oxidative, biochemical and histopathological alterations in fishes from pesticide contaminated river Ganga, India. Science Reports 12 (1): 3628.
  14. Sheehan D. & Power A. 1999. Effects of seasonality on xenobiotic and antioxidant defence mechanisms of bivalve molluscs. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, C, 123: 193–199.
  15. Van der Oost R., Beyer J. & Vermeulen N. P. 2003. Fish bioaccumulation and biomarkers in environmental risk assessment: a review. Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology 13 (2): 57–149. 
  16. Wilhelm Filho D., Torres A., Marcon L., Fraga G. & Boveris A. 2000. Comparative antioxidant defences in vertebrates – emphasis on fish and mammals. Trends in Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 7: 33–45.
  17. Yancheva V., Stoyanova S., Velcheva I. & Georgieva E. 2020. Fish as indicators for environmental monitoring and health risk assessment regarding aquatic contamination with pesticides. International Journal of Zoology and Animal Biology 3 (1): 210.