Investigation of Apoptotic and Inflammatory Activity in Liver Tissue of Rats Fed with Clam (Pecten maximus, Linnaeus 1758)

Abstract One of the most important threats for living things in aquatic ecosystems is environmental pollution. The changes in water quality caused by environmental pollution also reduce the quality of life for organisms in the environment. Among these, the crustaceans which are most affected by the negative changes of environment, fed by the filtration method, are seen as pollution indicator. The consumption of these creatures reaches all steps of the pyramid, especially humans, through the food chain. People who frequently use seafood in their diets may be affected by these negative changes. Heavy metal contents of the clams obtained from Dardanelles were determined by the ICPOES. Twenty-four female Wistar albino rats were fed for 30 days with the experimental diet using clams (Pecten maximus), which was dried and formed into pellets and added to the food in certain proportions. At the end of the study, the subjects were sacrificed under anesthesia, liver tissues were taken, and histochemical examination was performed. TUNEL method was performed to detect apoptotic activity, and immunohistochemical staining with TNF-α and NF-κB antibodies to determine inflammation. Concluding from the results, it was observed that the degeneration of vital digestive system tissues such as liver was inevitable in living creatures that frequently consume seafood obtained from unhealthy environment in their daily diets. The high analysis values of the heavy metal (P. maximus) in food additive can be considered as a reason for histopathological results.