Department of Biology, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Cara Hadrijana 8/A, 31000 Osijek, Croatia.
Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 2013 Oct;65(3):498-509. doi: 10.1007/s00244-013-9930-4. Epub 2013 Jun 28.
In many studies that investigate the toxic effects of pollutants on earthworms, experiments are performed using only one species of earthworms, most commonly the Eisenia species. However, the differences in sensitivities of different earthworm species could potentially lead to an underestimation of environmental aspects of pollutants. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the sensitivity of biomarker responses of Eisenia andrei, an epigeic compost species commonly used in laboratory experiments, with those of Lumbricus rubellus, an epigeic species widely distributed in temperate regions. The earthworms were exposed to the three commonly used insecticides: organophosphates dimethoate (0.03, 0.3, and 3 mg kg(-1)) and pirimiphos-methyl (0.02, 0.2, and 2 mg kg(-1)), as well as pyrethroid deltamethrin (0.01, 0.1, and 0.5 mg kg(-1)), for 1 and 15 days using an artificial soil test. The effects of the pesticides were assessed by measuring the activities of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), carboxylesterase (CES), catalase (CAT), glutathione S-transferase (GST) as well as the concentration of glutathione (GSH). The pesticides caused a significant inhibition of AChE and CES activities and significant changes in activities of CAT, GST, and GSH concentration in both earthworm species. A comparison of biomarker responses between E. andrei and L. rubellus showed significant differences; E. andrei proved to be less susceptible to pesticide exposure than L. rubellus. In addition, the results from the filter-paper contact test mortality experiments showed that lethal concentrations were lower for L. rubellus compared with the E. andrei, further showing a greater sensitivity of L. rubellus. The difference in sensitivities of these epigeic species should be taken into account when conducting toxicity studies.
在许多研究中，研究人员使用单一物种的蚯蚓来调查污染物对蚯蚓的毒性作用，最常用的物种是赤子爱胜蚓。然而，不同蚯蚓物种的敏感性差异可能会导致对污染物环境方面的低估。因此，本研究的目的是比较常见于实验室实验的表栖堆肥物种，即赤子爱胜蚓和广泛分布于温带地区的表栖物种，即威廉环毛蚓对生物标志物反应的敏感性。研究人员将蚯蚓暴露于三种常用杀虫剂中：有机磷乐果（0.03、0.3 和 3 mg kg(-1)) 和吡虫磷（0.02、0.2 和 2 mg kg(-1)) 以及拟除虫菊酯溴氰菊酯（0.01、0.1 和 0.5 mg kg(-1))，使用人工土壤测试，暴露 1 天和 15 天。通过测量乙酰胆碱酯酶（AChE）、羧酸酯酶（CES）、过氧化氢酶（CAT）、谷胱甘肽 S-转移酶（GST）以及谷胱甘肽（GSH）浓度来评估农药的影响。结果表明，这些杀虫剂导致 AChE 和 CES 活性显著抑制，以及两种蚯蚓物种的 CAT、GST 和 GSH 浓度的活性显著变化。赤子爱胜蚓和威廉环毛蚓之间的生物标志物反应比较显示出显著差异；与威廉环毛蚓相比，赤子爱胜蚓对农药暴露的敏感性较低。此外，滤纸接触试验死亡率实验的结果表明，与赤子爱胜蚓相比，威廉环毛蚓的致死浓度更低，这进一步表明威廉环毛蚓的敏感性更高。在进行毒性研究时，应考虑这些表栖物种的敏感性差异。
