Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
4551692 | Marine Environmental Research | 2008 | 6 Pages |
Metallothionein was quantified in sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax intraperitoneally (i.p.) injected with different Cu, Cd and Hg doses (50–250 μg kg–1 wet wt) after 48 h exposure. A distinct peak with 16.8 min retention time was obtained by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography coupled to fluorescence detection (RP-HPLC-FD) with the three metals. Total metallothionein levels assayed in unheated liver extracts by RP-HPLC-FD were significantly higher (1.3–1.95-fold) than those obtained by the well-established spectrophotometric method. In the RP-HPLC-FD method, metallothionein increased linearly with Cu and Hg doses, being saturated beyond 100 μg kg–1 Cd. Maximum induction was obtained at 100 μg kg−1 Cd (5.3-fold), and 250 μg kg−1 Cu or Hg (8- and 5.1-fold, respectively). At low doses no metallothionein induction was shown by the less sensitive spectrophotometric assay.