Departamento de Morfologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, UFMG, Belo Horizonte, C.P. 486, 30161-970 Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2011 Oct;74(7):1879-87. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2011.07.017. Epub 2011 Aug 9.
The aim of this study was to assess the health indicators and reproductive endpoints in a wild population of lambari Astyanax fasciatus, a small characid fish widely distributed in South America. A range of biomarkers, from the molecular to population levels, was evaluated in adult fish sampled from five sites from the Furnas Reservoir, Grande River. At the sites that receive untreated agriculture and industrial residues, fish showed reduced body size and delayed gonadal maturation. Fish from the sites located immediately downstream from the municipal wastewater discharges exhibited feminisation, intersex and evidence of contamination by xenoestrogens. Elevated levels of zona radiata proteins were found by Western blot in the livers of male fish from three contaminated sites. Overall, this study provides the first evidence of endocrine disruption in a wild fish population inhabiting the Furnas Reservoir, and suggests water contamination by oestrogenic compounds and agricultural residues with a possible risk to human health and wildlife.
本研究旨在评估广泛分布于南美洲的小脂鲤（Astyanax fasciatus）野生种群的健康指标和生殖终点。从分子到种群水平，评估了取自 Furnas 水库五个地点的成年鱼类的一系列生物标志物。在接收未经处理的农业和工业废物的地点，鱼类的体型减小，性腺成熟延迟。位于城市废水排放口下游的鱼类表现出雌性化、雌雄同体以及受外源性雌激素污染的迹象。通过 Western blot 在来自三个污染地点的雄性鱼类的肝脏中发现了高水平的卵黄蛋白原蛋白。总的来说，本研究首次提供了在 Furnas 水库中栖息的野生鱼类种群中存在内分泌干扰的证据，并表明雌激素化合物和农业废物污染了水，可能对人类健康和野生动物构成风险。
