Reproductive toxicity of chronic exposure to cortisone in western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis)

IF 4.3 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 MARINE & FRESHWATER BIOLOGY

Aquatic Toxicology Pub Date : 2025-09-23 DOI:10.1016/j.aquatox.2025.107587

MeiXin Ye , JinLin Yang , ZiPing Cai , ZhiTuo Huang , JunHao Wu , QianLin Cai , Xing Hu , KaiWen Li , ZiJian Liu , Shuai Wu , LiPing Hou

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Cortisone is a commonly found in a variety of aquatic environments and has potential adverse effects on aquatic organisms. This study was to assess the chronic toxic effects of cortisone at different concentrations (0.0, 5.0, 50.0 and 500.0 ng/L) for 60 days on adult female western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis). The results revealed that cortisone significantly increased the proportion of perinuclear oocytes concomitant with reduced the prevalence of late-stage oocytes, indicating arrested oocyte maturation. Meanwhile, exposed females exhibited compromised mate attraction and diminished courtship interactions. Transcriptomic profiling of the ovaries identified significant enrichment of steroidogenic pathways (p < 0.001), with the differentially expressed gene CYP21A2 demonstrating pronounced up-regulation relative to that of the control fish. Gene expression and plasma steroid analyses further showed decreased expression of key genes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) (lhb, fshb, gnrh2, gnrh3, and cyp19a1b in the brain; cyp19a1a and hsd20b in the ovary), whereas ovarian star, cyp17, hsd3b, and hsd17b3 were up-regulated. This transcriptional dysregulation disrupted plasma steroid homeostasis, manifested by significantly decreased levels of estradiol and 17α,20β-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (17α,20β-DHP), contrasted with a pronounced increase in 11-ketotestosterone. Vitellogenin gene transcription was also suppressed in both liver and brain tissues. Collectively, cortisone exposure induced endocrine disruption in G. affinis, which may ultimately compromise population stability. These findings provided valuable information for further understanding the potential ecological risks of corticosteroids.

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慢性暴露于可的松对西部食蚊鱼的生殖毒性。

可的松普遍存在于各种水生环境中，对水生生物有潜在的不利影响。本试验研究了不同浓度可的松（0.0、5.0、50.0和500.0 ng/L）对成年雌食蚊鱼60 d的慢性毒性作用。结果显示，可的松显著增加了核周卵母细胞的比例，同时降低了晚期卵母细胞的患病率，表明卵母细胞成熟受阻。与此同时，暴露在外的雌性表现出对配偶吸引力的降低和求爱互动的减少。卵巢的转录组学分析发现类固醇生成途径显著富集（p < 0.001），与对照鱼相比，差异表达的基因CYP21A2明显上调。基因表达和血浆类固醇分析进一步显示，下丘脑-垂体-性腺（HPG）中的关键基因（脑中的lhb、fshb、gnrh2、gnrh3和cyp19a1b；卵巢中的cyp19a1a和hsd20b）表达降低，而卵巢star、cyp17、hsd3b和hsd17b3表达上调。这种转录失调破坏了血浆类固醇稳态，表现为雌二醇和17α，20β-二羟基-4-孕酮-3-one （17α,20β-DHP）水平显著降低，而11-酮睾酮水平显著升高。卵黄原蛋白基因转录在肝脏和脑组织中也受到抑制。总的来说，暴露在可的松下会导致豚鼠的内分泌紊乱，这可能最终损害种群的稳定。这些发现为进一步了解皮质类固醇的潜在生态风险提供了有价值的信息。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Aquatic Toxicology 环境科学-毒理学

CiteScore

7.10

自引率

4.40%

发文量

250

审稿时长

56 days

期刊介绍： Aquatic Toxicology publishes significant contributions that increase the understanding of the impact of harmful substances (including natural and synthetic chemicals) on aquatic organisms and ecosystems. Aquatic Toxicology considers both laboratory and field studies with a focus on marine/ freshwater environments. We strive to attract high quality original scientific papers, critical reviews and expert opinion papers in the following areas: Effects of harmful substances on molecular, cellular, sub-organismal, organismal, population, community, and ecosystem level; Toxic Mechanisms; Genetic disturbances, transgenerational effects, behavioral and adaptive responses; Impacts of harmful substances on structure, function of and services provided by aquatic ecosystems; Mixture toxicity assessment; Statistical approaches to predict exposure to and hazards of contaminants The journal also considers manuscripts in other areas, such as the development of innovative concepts, approaches, and methodologies, which promote the wider application of toxicological datasets to the protection of aquatic environments and inform ecological risk assessments and decision making by relevant authorities.