Laboratorio de Toxicología Ambiental, Facultad de Química, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Paseo Colón intersección Paseo Tollocan, Colonia Residencial Colón, CP 50120 Toluca, Estado de México, Mexico.
Laboratorio de Toxicología Ambiental, Facultad de Química, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Paseo Colón intersección Paseo Tollocan, Colonia Residencial Colón, CP 50120 Toluca, Estado de México, Mexico.
Sci Total Environ. 2023 Oct 10;894:165016. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165016. Epub 2023 Jun 20.
Caffeine (CAF) is an alkaloid, which acts as a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant drug. In recent years, CAF has been recurrently detected in water bodies, generating deleterious effects in aquatic organisms. The information on the toxic effects of CAF in the environment is still limited. Thus, the objective of this work was to determine whether CAF at environmentally relevant concentrations (CAF concentrations were selected based on studies on the worldwide occurrence of this compound and on the toxicity of CAF in aquatic species) is capable of inducing alterations to embryonic development and alteration of oxidative stress-related gene expression patterns in Cyprinus carpio. For this purpose, common carp embryos (2 hpf) were exposed to realistic concentrations of CAF until 96 hpf. Alterations to embryonic development and teratogenic effects were evaluated at 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 hpf. In addition, oxidative stress in carp embryos at 72 and 96 hpf was evaluated by cellular oxidation biomarkers (lipoperoxidation level, hydroperoxide content and carbonyl protein content) and antioxidant enzymes activities (superoxide dismutase and catalase). Oxidative stress-related gene expression (sod, cat and gpx1) was also evaluated. Our results showed that CAF concentrations above 500 ng/L are capable of producing teratogenic effects. Furthermore, CAF was able to induce alterations such cardiac malformations, somite alterations, pericardial edema and chorda malformations. Concerning oxidative stress, the results demonstrated that CAF induce oxidative damage on the embryos of C. carpio. Our outcomes also showed up-regulations in genes related to antioxidant activity sod, cat and gpx by CAF exposure. In conclusion CAF at environmentally relevant concentrations is able to alter the embryonic development of common carp by the oxidative stress pathway. Based on the above evidence, it can be inferred that acute exposure to CAF can lead to a toxic response that significantly harms fish's health, adversely affecting their essential organs' functioning.
咖啡因（CAF）是一种生物碱，作为中枢神经系统（CNS）兴奋剂。近年来，CAF 已在水体中反复检测到，对水生生物产生有害影响。关于 CAF 在环境中的毒性作用的信息仍然有限。因此，本工作的目的是确定环境相关浓度的 CAF（CAF 浓度是根据该化合物在世界范围内的发生情况以及 CAF 对水生物种的毒性研究选择的）是否能够诱导鲤鱼胚胎发育改变和氧化应激相关基因表达模式的改变。为此，将鲤鱼胚胎（2 hpf）暴露于实际浓度的 CAF 中，直至 96 hpf。在 12、24、48、72 和 96 hpf 时评估胚胎发育改变和致畸作用。此外，在 72 和 96 hpf 时通过细胞氧化生物标志物（脂质过氧化水平、过氧化物含量和羰基蛋白含量）和抗氧化酶活性（超氧化物歧化酶和过氧化氢酶）评估鲤鱼胚胎的氧化应激。还评估了与氧化应激相关的基因表达（ sod、cat 和 gpx1）。我们的结果表明，浓度高于 500 ng/L 的 CAF 能够产生致畸作用。此外，CAF 能够诱导心脏畸形、体节改变、心包水肿和脊索畸形等改变。关于氧化应激，结果表明 CAF 诱导了 C. carpio 胚胎的氧化损伤。我们的结果还显示，CAF 暴露会导致 sod、cat 和 gpx 等与抗氧化活性相关的基因上调。总之，环境相关浓度的 CAF 能够通过氧化应激途径改变鲤鱼的胚胎发育。基于上述证据，可以推断急性暴露于 CAF 会导致对鱼类健康产生严重危害的毒性反应，对其重要器官的功能产生不利影响。
