Oxidative stress in fish cells: in vitro studies.

Bluegill sunfish BF-2 fibroblasts were used in the neutral red (NR) cytotoxicity assay to discern the toxicities of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and paraquat as indicated by their abilities to induce oxidative stress. The toxicity of H2O2 was markedly enhanced in BF-2 cells treated with the glutathione depleting agents, buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), maleic acid, and chlorodinitrobenzene; similar treatments did not sensitize the BF-2 cells to paraquat, a redox cycling xenobiotic. BSO treated BF-2 cells, however, were sensitized to nitrofurantoin, also a redox cycling chemical. Diethyldithiocarbamate, an inhibitor of superoxide dismutase, only weakly enhanced the sensitivity of the BF-2 cells to H2O2 and paraquat. 1,10-Phenanthroline, a chelator of Fe2+, reduced the cytotoxicity of H2O2 and paraquat, presumably by preventing hydroxyl radical formation in the Fenton reaction. Quin 2 AM, an intracellular chelator of Ca2+, markedly lessened the toxicity of H2O2, but not of paraquat; EGTA, an extracellular chelator of Ca2+, had no effect on the toxicity of H2O2 or paraquat. Apparently, perturbation of intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis is involved in H2O2 toxicity. For comparative purposes, some studies were performed with fathead minnow FHM epithelioid cells, BALB/c mouse 3T3 fibroblasts, and human HepG2 hepatoma cells. The BF-2 fibroblast/NR cytotoxicity red assay was shown to be a suitable model to study oxidative stress in fish.