Environmentally induced oxidative stress in aquatic animals

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are an unenviable part of aerobic life. Their steady-state concentration is a balance between production and elimination providing certain steady-state ROS level. The dynamic equilibrium can be disturbed leading to enhanced ROS level and damage to cellular constituents which is called “oxidative stress”. This review describes the general processes responsible for ROS generation in aquatic animals and critically analyses used markers for identification of oxidative stress. Changes in temperature, oxygen levels and salinity can cause the stress in natural and artificial conditions via induction of disbalance between ROS production and elimination. Human borne pollutants can also enhance ROS level in hydrobionts. The role of transition metal ions, such as copper, chromium, mercury and arsenic, and pesticides, namely insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides along with oil products in induction of oxidative stress is highlighted. Last years the research in biology of free radicals was refocused from only descriptive works to molecular mechanisms with particular interest to ones enhancing tolerance. The function of some transcription regulators (Keap1–Nrf2 and HIF-1α) in coordination of organisms’ response to oxidative stress is discussed. The future directions in the field are related with more accurate description of oxidative stress, the identification of its general characteristics and mechanisms responsible for adaptation to the stress have been also discussed. The last part marks some perspectives in the study of oxidative stress in hydrobionts, which, in addition to classic use, became more and more popular to address general biological questions such as development, aging and pathologies.