Harada Hiroaki, Kurauchi Masaru, Hayashi Rie, Eki Toshihiko
Division of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Department of Ecological Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology, 1-1 Hibarigaoka, Tempaku-cho, Toyohashi, Aichi 441-8580, Japan.
Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2007 Mar;66(3):378-83. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2006.02.017. Epub 2006 Apr 17.
The acute toxicities of heavy metals and detergents have been well examined with respect to several endpoints, such as mortality, for application to toxicity tests for environmental assessments. However, chronic influences of these agents on multicellular organisms still need to be determined. Here we studied long-term effects on the lifespan of a free-living nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, resulting from prolonged exposure to heavy metals or detergents, as well as short-term inhibitory effects on reproduction and growth. These agents inhibited growth of hatched larvae and reproductive capacity in a concentration-dependent manner. They also effectively shortened the lifespan of the adult nematode over the same concentration range. Since toxic effects on both growth and lifespan were observed over similar concentration ranges, where acute toxicities in various endpoints are detected, the shortening of the lifespan can be used as a new endpoint for the assessment of various ecotoxic agents.
对于重金属和洗涤剂的急性毒性，已针对多个终点进行了充分研究，例如死亡率，以便应用于环境评估的毒性测试。然而，这些物质对多细胞生物的慢性影响仍有待确定。在此，我们研究了长期暴露于重金属或洗涤剂对自由生活的线虫秀丽隐杆线虫寿命的影响，以及对其繁殖和生长的短期抑制作用。这些物质以浓度依赖的方式抑制孵化幼虫的生长和繁殖能力。在相同浓度范围内，它们还能有效缩短成年线虫的寿命。由于在检测到各种终点急性毒性的相似浓度范围内，均观察到了对生长和寿命的毒性作用，因此寿命缩短可作为评估各种生态毒性物质的一个新终点。
