Departamento de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Facultad Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andres Bello, República 440, Santiago, Chile.
Environmental Research and Innovation (ERIN) Department, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), 5 avenue des Hauts-Fourneaux, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.
Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 2019 Oct;77(3):390-408. doi: 10.1007/s00244-019-00661-6. Epub 2019 Aug 17.
One of the direct causes of biodiversity loss is environmental pollution resulting from the use of chemicals. Different kinds of chemicals, such as persistent organic pollutants and some heavy metals, can be endocrine disruptors, which act at low doses over a long period of time and have a negative effect on the reproductive and thyroid system in vertebrates worldwide. Research on the effects of endocrine disruptors and the use of bioindicators in neotropical ecosystems where pressure on biodiversity is high is scarce. In Chile, although endocrine disruptors have been detected at different concentrations in the environments of some ecosystems, few studies have been performed on their biological effects in the field. In this work, Xenopus laevis (African clawed frog), an introduced species, is used as a bioindicator for the presence of endocrine disruptors in aquatic systems with different degrees of contamination in a Mediterranean zone in central Chile. For the first time for Chile, alterations are described that can be linked to exposure to endocrine disruptors, such as vitellogenin induction, decreased testosterone in male frogs, and histological changes in gonads. Dioxin-like and oestrogenic activity was detected in sediments at locations where it seem to be related to alterations found in the frogs. In addition, an analysis of land use/cover use revealed that urban soil was the best model to explain the variations in frog health indicators. This study points to the usefulness of an invasive species as a bioindicator for the presence of endocrine-disruptive chemicals.
生物多样性丧失的一个直接原因是化学物质使用导致的环境污染。不同种类的化学物质，如持久性有机污染物和一些重金属，可能是内分泌干扰物，它们在低剂量下长时间作用，对全球脊椎动物的生殖和甲状腺系统产生负面影响。在生物多样性受到高压力的新热带生态系统中，关于内分泌干扰物的影响和生物标志物的研究很少。在智利，尽管已经在一些生态系统的环境中检测到不同浓度的内分泌干扰物，但在野外对它们的生物效应进行的研究很少。在这项工作中，非洲爪蟾（Xenopus laevis），一种引入物种，被用作智利中部地中海地区不同污染程度的水生系统中存在内分泌干扰物的生物标志物。这是智利首次描述与接触内分泌干扰物有关的变化，如卵黄蛋白原诱导、雄性青蛙睾丸酮水平降低和性腺组织学变化。在沉积物中检测到二恶英样和雌激素活性，这些活性似乎与在青蛙中发现的变化有关。此外，土地利用/覆盖利用分析表明，城市土壤是解释青蛙健康指标变化的最佳模型。这项研究表明，入侵物种作为存在内分泌干扰化学物质的生物标志物是有用的。
