Azza H Mohamed, Sherin K Sheir, Gamalat Y Osman and Hoda H Abd-El Azeem
Keywords: Artemia, metals, antioxidants, metallothioneins, total proteins
Abstract: Toxic metals are widely spread in aquatic ecosystems and aquatic invertebrates are continuously subjected to it. In this study, adult brine shrimp, Artemia salina was collected from El Hamra Lake, Wadi El Natrun and acclimated in lake water. They were exposed to sublethal concentrations of CdCl2 (5 mg/l), FeCl3 (30 mg/l) and Cd + Fe (5+30 mg/l) for 7 days. A control group was exposed to lake water only. Antioxidant enzymes activity (Superoxide Dismutase; SOD, Catalase; CAT and Glutathione Peroxidase; GPx), metallothioniens (MTs) and total protein patterns using SDS-PAGE were estimated after exposure to the previous heavy metals for 1, 3 and 7 days. Cd increased the activity of the antioxidants CAT, GPX and SOD significantly (ANOVA/Kruskal Wallis, P ? 0.02) than Fe and Cd + Fe, which increased but insignificantly. Results indicated that concentration of metallothioneins was the significantly higher after Cd exposure (23.9 ± 0.9 ng/100 mg, ANOVA, P ? 0.001) followed by Cd + Fe (14.9 ± 2.4 ng/100 mg) and the lowest was after the Fe exposure (10.8 ± 0.3 ng/100 mg). The total proteins profile of A. salina tissue was analyzed after the treatment with Cd and Fe. The total proteins intensity increased in all treatments at the beginning of the experiment then decreased gradually than the control by the end of exposure. In conclusion, Cd exposure alone influenced A. salina biological responses than Fe alone or Cd + Fe. A. salina is an excellent biomonitor for metals pollution; antioxidant enzymes, metallothioniens and total proteins electrophoresis are good biomarkers to measure A. salina biological responses to specific metal exposure
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