School of Agriculture, Ludong University, Yantai 264025, PR China.
Research and Development Center for Efficient Utilization of Coastal Bioresources, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, PR China.
Sci Total Environ. 2023 May 1;871:162110. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162110. Epub 2023 Feb 9.
The potential adverse effects of progestins on aquatic organisms, especially non-target species, are of increasing concern worldwide. However, the effect and mechanism of progestin toxicity on aquatic invertebrates remain largely unexplored. In the present study, clams Mactra veneriformis were exposed to norgestrel (NGT, 0, 10, and 1000 ng/L), the dominant progestin detected in the aquatic environment, for 21 days. NGT accumulation, histology, transcriptome, and metabolome were assessed in the digestive gland. The bioconcentration factor (BCF) was 386 and 268 in the 10 ng/L NGT group and 1000 ng/L NGT group, respectively, indicating efficient accumulation of NGT in the clams. Histological analysis showed that NGT led to the swelling of epithelial cells and blurring of the basement membrane in the digestive gland. Differentially-expressed genes and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis using a transcriptomic approach suggested that NGT primarily disturbed the detoxification system, antioxidant defense, carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism, and steroid hormone metabolism, which was consistent with the metabolites analyzed using a metabolomic approach. Furthermore, we speculated that the oxidative stress caused by NGT resulted in histological damage to the digestive gland. This study showed that NGT caused adverse effects in the clams and sheds light on the mechanisms of progestin interference in aquatic invertebrates.
孕激素对水生生物，特别是非靶标生物的潜在不利影响，引起了全球范围内的日益关注。然而，孕激素对水生无脊椎动物的毒性作用和机制在很大程度上仍未得到探索。本研究中，文蛤 Mactra veneriformis 暴露于诺孕酯（NGT，0、10 和 1000ng/L）中，NGT 是水生环境中检测到的主要孕激素，暴露时间为 21 天。评估了 NGT 在消化腺中的积累、组织学、转录组和代谢组学。生物浓缩因子（BCF）在 10ng/L NGT 组和 1000ng/L NGT 组中分别为 386 和 268，表明 NGT 在文蛤中得到了有效积累。组织学分析表明，NGT 导致消化腺上皮细胞肿胀和基底膜模糊。转录组学方法的差异表达基因和 KEGG 途径富集分析表明，NGT 主要扰乱了解毒系统、抗氧化防御、碳水化合物和氨基酸代谢以及类固醇激素代谢，这与代谢组学分析的代谢物一致。此外，我们推测 NGT 引起的氧化应激导致了消化腺的组织学损伤。本研究表明 NGT 对文蛤造成了不良影响，并揭示了孕激素干扰水生无脊椎动物的机制。
