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Distribution of toxins in various tissues of crucian carp intraperitoneally injected with hepatotoxic microcystins
Author(s) -
Lei Hehua,
Xie Ping,
Chen Jun,
Liang Gaodao,
Dai Ming,
Zhang Xuezhen
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1897/07-522.1
Subject(s) - crucian carp , kidney , spleen , chemistry , medicine , endocrinology , biology , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery
An acute toxicity experiment was conducted to examine the distribution and depuration of microcystins (MCs) in crucian carp ( Carassius aurutus ) tissues. Fish were injected intraperitoneally with extracted MCs at a dose of 200 μg MC‐LR (where L = leucine and R = arginine) equivalent/kg body weight. Microcystin concentrations in various tissues and aquaria water were analyzed at 1, 3, 12, 24, and 48 h postinjection using liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Microcystins were detected mainly in blood (3.99% of injected dose at 1 h), liver (1.60% at 1 h), gonad (1.49% at 3 h), and kidney (0.14% at 48 h). Other tissues, such as the heart, gill, gallbladder, intestine, spleen, brain, and muscle, contained less than 0.1% of the injected MCs. The highest concentration of MCs was found in blood (526‐3,753 ng/g dry wt), followed by liver (103‐1,656 ng/g dry wt) and kidney (279‐1,592 ng/g dry wt). No MC‐LR was detectable in intestine, spleen, kidney, brain, and muscle, whereas MC‐RR was found in all examined fish tissues, which might result from organ specificity of different MCs. Clearance of MC‐RR in brain tissue was slow. In kidney, the MC‐RR content was negatively correlated with that in blood, suggesting that blood was important in the transportation of MC‐RR to kidney for excretion.