Oxidative stress responses in blood and gills of Carassius auratus exposed to the mancozeb-containing carbamate fungicide Tattoo

Intensive use of pesticides, particularly dithiocarbamates, in agriculture often leads to contamination of freshwater ecosystems. To our knowledge, the mechanisms of toxicity to fish by the carbamate fungicide Tattoo that contains mancozeb [ethylenebis(dithiocarbamate)] have not been studied. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of Tattoo on goldfish gills and blood, tissues that would have close early contact with the pollutant. Exposure of goldfish Carassius auratus to 3, 5 or 10 mg L−1 of Tattoo for 96 h resulted in moderate lymphopenia (by 8 percent) with a concomitant increase in both stab (by 66–88 percent) and segmented (by 166 percent) neutrophils. An increase in the content of protein carbonyl groups in blood (by 137–184 percent) together with decreased levels of protein thiols (by 23 percent) and an enhancement of lipid peroxide concentrations (by 29 percent) in gills after exposure to 10 mg L−1 of Tattoo demonstrated the induction of mild oxidative stress in response to Tattoo exposure. At the same time, the activities of selected antioxidant enzymes were enhanced in gills: superoxide dismutase by 18–25 percent and catalase by 27 percent. A 34 percent increment in low molecular mass thiol concentrations (mainly represented by glutathione) also occurred in gills and could be related to increased activity (by 13–30 percent) of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. The results indicate that Tattoo exposure perturbs free radical processes, i.e. induces mild oxidative stress and enhances the activity of certain antioxidant and associated enzymes in goldfish gills. It is clear that goldfish respond to the presence of waterborne pesticide by adjusting antioxidant defenses through upregulation of activities of antioxidant and associated enzymes.

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► The influence of Tattoo, Mancozeb-containing fungicide, on goldfish was studied.
► Blood and gills were investigated after 96 h exposure to 3, 5 or 10 mg L−1 of Tattoo.
► Exposure to Tattoo/Mancozeb induced lymphopenia and neutrophilia in goldfish blood.
► In gills, Tattoo induced perturbations in processes related to free radicals.