Hepatic Responses of Juvenile Fundulus heteroclitus from Pollution-adapted and Nonadapted Populations Exposed to Elizabeth River Sediment Extract.
Abstract
Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) inhabiting the Atlantic Wood Industries
region of the Elizabeth River, Virginia, have passed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
(PAH) resistance to their offspring as evidenced by early life stage testing of developmental
toxicity after exposure to specific PAHs. Our study focused on environmentally relevant
PAH mixtures in the form of Elizabeth River sediment extract (ERSE). Juvenile (5 month)
F1 progeny of pollution-adapted Atlantic Wood (AW) parents and of reference site (King's
Creek [KC]) parents were exposed as embryos to ERSE. Liver alterations, including
nonneoplastic lesions and microvesicular vacuolation, were observed in both populations.
ERSE-exposed KC fish developed significantly more alterations than unexposed KC fish.
Interestingly, unexposed AW killifish developed significantly more alterations than
unexposed KC individuals, suggesting that AW juveniles are not fully protected from
liver disease; rapid growth of juvenile fish may also be an accelerating factor for
tumorigenesis. Because recent reports show hepatic tumor formation in adult AW fish,
the differing responses from the 2 populations provided a way to determine whether
embryo toxicity protection extends to juveniles. Future investigations will analyze
older life stages of killifish to determine differences in responses related to chronic
disease.
Type
Journal articleSubject
Elizabeth RiverFundulus heteroclitus
adaptation
creosote-contaminated site
developmental exposure
hepatic lesions
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/12416Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1177/0192623316636717Publication Info
Riley, Amanda K; Chernick, Melissa; Brown, Daniel R; Hinton, David E; & Di Giulio,
Richard T (2016). Hepatic Responses of Juvenile Fundulus heteroclitus from Pollution-adapted and Nonadapted
Populations Exposed to Elizabeth River Sediment Extract. Toxicol Pathol, 44(5). pp. 738-748. 10.1177/0192623316636717. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/12416.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Richard T. Di Giulio
Sally Kleberg Distinguished Professor of Environmental Toxicology
Dr. Di Giulio serves as Director of Duke University's Integrated Toxicology Program
and the Superfund Basic Research Center.
Dr. Di Giulio's research is concerned with basic studies of mechanisms of contaminant
metabolism, adaptation and toxicity, and with the development of mechanistically-based
indices of exposure and toxicity that can be employed in biomonitoring. The long term
goals of this research are to bridge the gap between mechanistic toxicological research
and the development of usef
David E. Hinton
Nicholas Distinguished Professor of Environmental Quality
The Hinton laboratory focuses on mechanistic toxicity in all life stages of small,
aquarium model fish and in selected species with particular environmental relevance
(freshwater and marine). With the latter, investigations focus on stressor responses
and include follow up studies after oil spills. Studies with the laboratory model
fish take advantage of the compressed life cycle to improve understanding of organellar,
cellular and tissues responses that arise after exposure and follow either a
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