Effect of increasing temperature in the differential activity of oxidative stress biomarkers in various tissues of the Rock goby, Gobius paganellus

Oxidative stress biomarkers have been widely used in the development of ecological indices and in the assessment of exposure of aquatic organisms to contaminants from agricultural, industrial and urban pollution. However, temperature is known to also have a significant effect on oxidative stress biomarkers. This way, temperature is a confounding factor that may result in difficulties in the interpretation of oxidative stress biomarkers response patterns. Since climate change is expected to result in more frequent and intense heat wave events it is pertinent to investigate the effect of increasing temperature in the oxidative stress response of common aquatic organisms. It is also important to assess the differential response of different body tissues, given that they are differently exposed to temperature depending on their location and physiological function. This study investigates the effect of increasing temperature (20 °C-34 °C) in the response of multiple biomarkers of oxidative stress: lipid peroxidation, glutathione-S-transferase, superoxide dismutase and catalase activities, in the muscle, liver and gills of a common coastal fish, the Rock goby, Gobius paganellus. The response of the oxidative stress biomarkers analysed were always higher in the gills than in the other tissues. Muscle generally presented the lower levels of any of the biomarkers tested when compared to other tissues. Nevertheless, muscle tissue always responded significantly to temperature, as did the liver, while the gills were unresponsive in terms of lipid peroxidation and glutathione-S-transferase. Unresponsive tissues to temperature may be particularly interesting as indicators of pollution, given that temperature will not be a confounding variable in their oxidative stress response.