Abstract:
The objective of this study was to investigate the potential use of cellular responses of Protunus pelagicus as a biomarker for the presense of LAS in an aquatic environment. The male blue swimming crabs were exposed to an anion surfactant linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LAS) at 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 mg-LAS/L for 3, 6, 12 and 24 hours respectively, with one control group. The activity of the antioxidant defense enzymes catalase (CAT, EC 1.11.1.6) and glutathione-s-transferase (GST, EC 2.5.1.18) and acetycholinesterase (AChE, EC 3.1.1.7) were determied in hepatopancreas, gill and blood. The lysosomal stability, hemocyanin concentration and protein pattern in haemolymph were also measured. An increase in catalase activity in both gill and hepatopancrease was observed when exposed to 20 and 30 mg/L LAS for 12 hour, respectively. In addition, the elevated level of acetycholinesterase activity was shown in blood and gill at 30 mg-LAS/L for 12 and 24 hour expoures while no alteration of glutathione-s-tranferase activity was obtained in blood, gill, or hepatopancrease. The lysosomal stability was shown as the earliest response. The alteration could be observed at 10 mg-LAS/L and only 6 hour exposure. However, the hemocyanin concentration and protein pattern showed a similar pattern as the control set.