Vet World   Vol.15   July-2022  Article-10

First study on response of astrocytes in alevines of red-bellied pacu (Piaractus brachypomus) to subchronic exposure to chlorpyrifos and trichlorfon

Background and Aim: Organophosphate pesticides (OPs) used in agricultural production pose environmental and public health risks whenever non-target organisms are exposed to them. Oxon-type OPs, such as trichlorfon (TCF) and chlorpyrifos (CPF), are frequently used in Colombia and have been detected in water bodies in the vicinity of croplands; however, their effect on aquatic organisms, especially fish, is largely unknown. The neurotoxicity of OPs includes inhibition of esterase enzymes, neuronal damage, and increased glial reactivity. This study aimed to assess the astrocytic response in the brain tissue of juvenile red-bellied pacu (Piaractus brachypomus) exposed to TCF and CPF.

Materials and Methods: A 25-day subchronic assay was conducted in which juvenile red-bellied pacu were exposed to CPF and TCF. After 25 days of exposure, the fish were killed and brain samples were collected and processed for immunohistochemistry to assess the morphology and reactivity of astrocytes; glial acidic fibrillary protein was used as a biomarker.

Results: The brain samples from animals under subchronic exposure to OPs for 25 days showed higher cellular density as well as changes in astrocyte phenotype characterized by shortening of cytoplasmic projections, hypertrophy, and ameboid morphology compared to those from nonexposed animals. Similarly, astrocyte hyperreactivity was detected in the optic tectum and medial longitudinal fasciculus of the exposed group.

Conclusion: Immunoreactivity of brain glial cells under subchronic exposure to OPs measured through immunohistochemical tests as well as OPs-induced neuropathology may be useful as a biomarker for monitoring environmental pollution. The results also indicate that P. brachypomus is a suitable biomonitoring model for studying neurotoxicological and neurodegenerative diseases. Keywords: astrocytes, fish, neurotoxicity, organophosphates, toxicity biomarkers.

Keywords: astrocytes, fish, neurotoxicity, organophosphates, toxicity biomarkers.

How to cite this article: Holguín-Céspedes GK, Céspedes-Rubio AE, Rondón-Barragán IS (2022) First study on response of astrocytes in alevines of red-bellied pacu (Piaractus brachypomus) to subchronic exposure to chlorpyrifos and trichlorfon, Veterinary World, 15(7): 1676-1683.

Received: 31-01-2022  Accepted: 05-05-2022     Published online: 14-07-2022

Corresponding author: Ángel Enrique Céspedes-Rubio   E-mail: aecesped@ut.edu.co

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2022.1676-1683

Copyright: Holguín-Céspedes, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.