Pollution-induced oxidative stress and biochemical parameter alterations in the blood of white stork nestlings Ciconia ciconia from regions with different degrees of contamination in Poland

Abstract

This paper aimed to illustrate the most reliable biomarkers to detect pollution-related oxidative stress in white stork nestlings in polluted (from copper manufacture), suburban and Odra meadows (as a control area) areas . Lipid peroxidation (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances content, TBARS) and oxidative modified protein levels (stable 2,4-dinitrophenyl hydrazine derivates of the carbonyl groups) were used as indicators of the oxidative stress, as well as other selected biochemical parameters, which are used as diagnostic tools in avian medicine (alanine and aspartate aminotransferases, lactate dehydrogenase activities, lactate and pyruvate concentrations). It was found that the blood of chicks from the polluted area was more susceptible to oxidative stress due to lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation, manifested as protein carbonyls, the elevation of alanine and aspartate aminotransferases activities, and lactate and pyruvate concentrations than those of chicks from suburban and Odra meadows areas. Direct connections between lactate and pyruvate concentrations and lipid peroxidation (TBARS level), as well as between derivates of carbonyl oxidation levels in the blood of chicks from the polluted area were detected. Lactate dehydrogenase activity was slightly inhibited in the blood of chicks from the polluted environment, perhaps because of increased lactate concentration in the blood of chicks from polluted areas. It can be suggested that alanine and aspartate aminotransferases, lactate dehydrogenase activities, lactate and pyruvate concentrations can be used as indicators of oxidative stress. The activities of these enzymes were perhaps not directly related to environmental pollution, but more likely to some secondary pollution-related changes in the nestlings’ conditions.