A potential biomarker of androgen exposure in European bullhead (Cottus sp.) kidney

Mélanie Villeret (1, 2) , Sabrina Jolly (3, 2) , Laure Wiest (4) , Emmanuelle Vulliet (4) , Anne Bado-Nilles (3, 2) , Jean-Marc Porcher (2) , Stéphane Betoulle (3) , Christophe Minier (1) , Wilfried Sanchez (2)

1 SEBIO - Stress Environnementaux et BIOsurveillance des milieux aquatiques
2 INERIS - Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques
3 URVVC - Unité de Recherche Vigne et Vins de Champagne Stress et Environnement - EA 4707
4 ISA-TRACES - Technologie et Recherche en Analyse Chimique pour l'Environnement et la Santé

The aim of this study was to identify a signal that could be used as an androgen exposure indicator in the European bullhead (Cottus sp.). For this purpose, the ultra-structure of the kidney was characterized to identify normal structure of this organ, and histological changes previously described in the kidney of breeding male bullheads were quantified using the kidney epithelium height (KEH) assay previously developed and validated for the stickleback. In the next step, the effect of trenbolone acetate (TbA), a model androgen, was assessed to identify potential androgenic regulation of bullhead kidney hypertrophy. Measurement of KEH performed on adult non-breeding male and female bullheads exposed for 14 and 21 days to 0, 1.26 and 6.50 mu g/L showed that kidney hypertrophy is induced in a dose-dependent manner, confirming the hypothesis that the European bullhead possesses a potential biomarker of androgen exposure. Combined with the wide distribution of the European bullhead in European countries and the potential of this fish species for environmental toxicology studies in field and laboratory conditions, the hypothesis of a potential biomarker of androgen exposure offers interesting perspectives for the use of the bullhead as a relevant sentinel fish species in monitoring studies. Inducibility was observed with high exposure concentrations of TbA. Further studies are needed to identify molecular signals that could be more sensitive than KEH

Mots clés: Androgens; Biomarker; STICKLEBACK GASTEROSTEUS-ACULEATUS; MORPHOLOGY; 3-SPINED STICKLEBACK; ENVIRONMENTAL ANDROGENS; RESPONSES; FISH; SPIGGIN; L.; PROTEIN; MOSQUITOFISH; Bullhead; Kidney; Trenbolone acetate

Domaines: Biochimie [q-bio.BM]; Chimie analytique

Mélanie Villeret, Sabrina Jolly, Laure Wiest, Emmanuelle Vulliet, Anne Bado-Nilles, et al.. A potential biomarker of androgen exposure in European bullhead (Cottus sp.) kidney. Fish Physiology and Biochemistry, 2013, 39 (3), pp.573-580. ⟨10.1007/s10695-012-9720-3⟩. ⟨hal-00860752⟩