Function of metallothioneins in carp Cyprinus carpio from two field sites in Western Ukraine

The aim of the present study was to elucidate the seasonal and spatial regularity of the properties of metallothioneins (MT) from the liver and gills of carp Cyprinus carpio L. in rural (R) and industrial (I) sites in Western Ukraine. The MT is represented by two chromatographic forms, the features of which exhibit seasonal rather than spatial dependence. The pronounced differences between the sites were due to the lower levels of Zn in the liver and the higher levels of Zn in MT of carp from site I, providing evidence of the higher overall anthropogenic impact here that leads to the distortion of this essential metal accumulation and to the activation of metal-binding function of MT. In spring, higher levels of Cu and Cd in MT and in the tissues were reflected at site R probably as the result of the permitting pollution here. The principal component analysis demonstrated the correlation of MT-bound metal levels to their levels in water and the absence of such relation for general tissue metal levels for Zn.