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Metals bioaccumulation and histopathological biomarkers in Carcinus maenas crab from Bizerta lagoon, Tunisia

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Abstract

Metals concentrations and histolopathological lesions of gills and digestive gland were investigated in Carcinus maenas crabs sampled from Bizerta Lagoon and Kuriat Island (Tunisia) as control site. The concentrations of trace metals varied between tissues, sites and sampling time. The highest levels of the analysed metals in gills and digestive gland were noted in Menzel Bourguiba and Cimentery sites at both sampling times (February and July). The higher metals loads were associated with severe and various tissues alterations in contaminated crabs. We particularly noted in the gills a haemocytic infiltration, distension and enlargement of the lamellae, lifting of lamellar epithelium, necrotic lesions and fusion of lamellae in the most polluted sites (Menzel Bourguiba and Cimentery). Moreover, others pathological alterations were observed in digestive gland of crabs collected from polluted sites and with a severity site dependent. We observed necrotic tubules containing tissue debris in the lumen with more intensity in crabs collected from Cimentery site in both sampling times. The thickened basal laminae and the walling off of the tubules by haemocytes around the thickened basal laminae were more abundant at Menzel Bourguiba than at others sites. The coagulation in the thickened basal laminae was observed only at Cimentery in February. Tissues histopathological lesions were sensitive to discriminate crabs of different sites and demonstrated its usefulness in this biomonitoring study. We recommend the association of histopatholocial lesions to biochemical biomarkers in future biomonitoring studies.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a PhD grant from the Ministry of Scientific Research and Technology, University of Sousse, Tunisia (Research Unit of Biochemical and Environmental Toxicology UR 04AGR05), and “Institution de la Recherche et de l’Enseignement Supérieur Agricole (IRESA; Tunisia)”. We are most grateful to Pr. Mohamed Ben Khedher for extensive English revision to improve the quality of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Biochemical and Environmental Toxicology, Higher Institute of Agriculture, Chott-Mariem, 4042, Sousse, Tunisia

    Sana Ben-Khedher, Jamel Jebali, Mohamed Banni & Hamadi Boussetta

  2. Laboratory of Histology Cytology and Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Monastir, 5019, Tunisia

    Zohra Houas

  3. International Centre of Environmental Technologies of Tunis (CITET), Boulevard of the Environment, 1080, Tunis, Tunisia

    Hmida Nawéli & Amel Jrad

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  1. Sana Ben-Khedher
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  2. Jamel Jebali
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Correspondence to Jamel Jebali.

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Ben-Khedher, S., Jebali, J., Houas, Z. et al. Metals bioaccumulation and histopathological biomarkers in Carcinus maenas crab from Bizerta lagoon, Tunisia. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 4343–4357 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-2399-x

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