Refuse leachate exposure causes changes of thyroid hormone level and related gene expression in female goldfish (Carassius auratus)

Publication date: Available online 5 October 2016 Source:Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology Author(s): Yufeng Gong, Hua Tian, Xiaona Zhang, Yifei Dong, Wei Wang, Shaoguo Ru To elucidate the potential thyroid disrupting effects of refuse leachate on females, female goldfish (Carassius auratus) were exposed to 0.5% diluted leachates from each step of a leachate treatment process (i.e. raw leachate before treatment, after membrane bioreactor treatment, and the final treated leachate) for 21 days. Raw leachate exposure caused disturbances in the thyroid cascade of female fish, as evidenced by the elevated plasma 3,3ʹ,5-triiodo-l-thyronine (p <0.05) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (p <0.01) levels as well as up-regulated hepatic and gonadal type I deiodinase (p <0.01), type II deiodinase (p <0.01) and thyroid receptor (p <0.05) mRNA levels. Thyroid disrupting potency decreased markedly as raw leachate progressed through the “membrane bioreactor + reverse osmosis” treatment but could still be detected in the treated leachate. As our results indicated, thyroid system in female goldfish was more sensitive to leachate exposure than that of the male fish.
Source: Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology - Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research