Effects Of Different Concentration Of Copper On Antioxidant Function And Pathologic Changes In Red-eared Turtles

Copper is one of the most important microelement in all kinds of creatures,and it is the constituent of many proteins which take part in variety b iological procedures.Copper in the water will concentrate in aquatic animals,which may disturb the normal metabolism,and even cause poisoning.With the development of productivity,the heavy metal pollution in solt and water is more and more severe,and copper is one of the common pollutant in water.Furthermore,copper sulfate is widely used in aquaculture industry,which increase degree of copper pollution in water.The purpose of this thesis is to find out will high copper concentration in water cause antio xidant damange to Red-eard Turtles(Trachemys scripta elegans),and also the pathologic changes.In addition,the content of copper,iron,zinc and manganese in differtent tissues will be measured to determine if high copper concentration in water influences their tissue distribution in Red-eard Turtles.In this study,thirty-two 2-year old healthy Red-eared slider turtles were divided into 4 groups and soaked in 4 different concentration of copper solutions for 8 months.The control group use distilled water,and the concentration of copper in another 3 groups is 1mg/L,3mg/L and 6mg/L.After 8 months,the Red-eared slider turtles were anesthesia by freezing and then killed by cutting of the head.9 tissues were sampling from the Red-eared slider turtles,including liver,heart,lung,spleen,kidney,pancreas,stomach,intestines and muscle.Some of the tissue were fixed in 10% formalin to prepare pathological section.Some of the tissue were prepared tissue homogenate for antioxidant activities determination,including total antioxidant capacity(T-AOC),superoxide dismutase(SOD),glutathione peroxidase(GSH-PX),and malonaldehyde(MDA).The rest of the tissue prepared to determine the content of copper,iron,zinc and manganese by flame atomic absorption spectrometry.As a result,the high copper concentration water decreased antioxidant activities of Red-eared slider turtless,but not all the tissue was affected.The affected tissues are liver,kidney,pancreas and intestines,which showed decrease of T-AOC,SOD,GSH-PX and increase of MDA.There were not such changes in other tissues.The pathological section showed abnormal changes in liver,kidney,pancreas and intestines of Red-eared slider turtless in high copper concentration water.The liver cell showed necrocytosis.The pancreas cell showed hydropic degeneration.The renal tubular epithelial cell showed hydropic degeneration and necrocytosis.The intestine villi were necrocytosis and fell off.The affected tissues are the same as decreased antioxidant activities.Comparison of copper content in tissues: Liver>intestines>stomach,muscle,heart and kidney>lung and pancreas.And with the increase of copper concentration in water,the copper content of liver,stomach,intestines and kidney increase too.Comparison of iron content in tissues: liver>intestines,muscle,stomach and kidney>heart and lung>pancreas.And with the increase of copper concentration in water,the iron content of tissues showed no change.Comparison of zinc content in tissues:liver>kidney>muscle>stomach,intestines,heart and lung>pancreas.And with the increase of copper concentration in water,the zinc content of tissues showed no change.Comparison of manganese content in tissues:liver>stomach,kidney and intestines>heart and muscle>lung and pancreas.And with the increase of copper concentration in water,the manganese content of tissues showed no change.Conclusion: high copper concentration water decreased antioxidant activity in Red-eard Turtles,and caused hitopathological demange to liver,kidney,pancreas,and intestine.Copper,iron,zinc and manganese concentrated in liver and kidney,and with increased copper concentration in water,the content of copper in liver,kidney,stomach and intestine increased,but the content of iron,zinc and manganese did not change.