Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Centro de Ciências Naturais e Exatas, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil.
Programa Pós-Graduação Stricto Sensu em Biotecnologia Aplicada a Saúde da Criança e do Adolescente, Instituto de Pesquisa Pelé Pequeno Príncipe, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil.
BMC Pharmacol Toxicol. 2019 Dec 19;20(Suppl 1):83. doi: 10.1186/s40360-019-0356-0.
Exposure to vinylcyclohexene (VCH) and methylmercury (MeHg) can induce oxidative stress and gene modulation. Several studies have been evaluating the effects of VCH and MeHg, but little is known about interactive effects between them. This work aimed to assess the exposure and co-exposure effects of MeHg and VCH on oxidative stress and gene modulation in Drosophila melanogaster.
Reactive species production, glutathione S-transferase (GST) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activities were evaluated after exposure and co-exposure to VCH (1 mM) and MeHg (0.2 mM) for one or three days in the head and body (thorax and abdomen) of flies. The expression of genes related to redox state and inflammatory response was evaluated after exposure and co-exposure to VCH and MeHg for three days.
Survival decreased only in flies co-exposed to VCH and MeHg for three days. All treatments increased total reactive species production after one day of exposure. However, no significant changes were observed in the head after three days of exposure. One day of exposure to VCH caused an increase in the head GST activity, whereas MeHg induced an increase after three days of exposure. Regarding the body, all treatments increased GST activity after one day of exposure, but only the flies exposed to MeHg presented an increase in GST activity after three days of exposure. Treatments did not alter AChE activity in the head. As for gene expression, there was a significant increase in the Relish transcription factor gene in the flies' body, but Nrf2, Keap1, Jafrac1, TrxR1, and NF-κβ were not altered.
The results suggest that exposure to VCH and MeHg induce oxidative stress and activation of an inflammatory response in fruit flies.
接触乙烯环己烯（VCH）和甲基汞（MeHg）会引起氧化应激和基因调节。已经有几项研究评估了 VCH 和 MeHg 的影响，但它们之间的相互作用知之甚少。本工作旨在评估 MeHg 和 VCH 暴露及共暴露对黑腹果蝇氧化应激和基因调节的影响。
在头部和身体（胸部和腹部）中暴露于 VCH（1 mM）和 MeHg（0.2 mM）1 或 3 天后，评估活性物种产生、谷胱甘肽 S-转移酶（GST）和乙酰胆碱酯酶（AChE）的活性。在暴露于 VCH 和 MeHg 3 天后，评估与氧化还原状态和炎症反应相关的基因的表达。
只有在 VCH 和 MeHg 共暴露 3 天的果蝇中，生存率才下降。所有处理在暴露 1 天后均增加总活性物质的产生。然而，在暴露 3 天后，头部没有观察到明显的变化。VCH 暴露 1 天会导致头部 GST 活性增加，而 MeHg 暴露 3 天后则会诱导 GST 活性增加。至于身体，所有处理在暴露 1 天后均增加 GST 活性，但只有暴露于 MeHg 的果蝇在暴露 3 天后 GST 活性增加。处理不会改变头部的 AChE 活性。至于基因表达，果蝇体内 Relish 转录因子基因显著增加，但 Nrf2、Keap1、Jafrac1、TrxR1 和 NF-κβ 没有改变。
结果表明，暴露于 VCH 和 MeHg 会诱导果蝇氧化应激和炎症反应的激活。
