Early maturation and liver necrosis in the fingerling stage of Oreochromis mossambicus due to BPA can cause an ecological imbalance

Abstract

We investigated the effect of Bisphenol-A (BPA) on the fingerlings of Oreochromis mossambicus collected from industrial waste. Fluorescence quenching assay using Rhodamine-B and mass detection assay using ESI-MS revealed that BPA was predominantly present in plastic industry effluent, where the fingerlings' ovaries exhibited early maturation. The histopathology of those fingerlings revealed a similar result. Both quantitative and qualitative data obtained by ELISA and FPLC showed elevated levels of vitellogenin in the fingerling stages after prolonged exposure to BPA present in the contaminated water. Our qRT-PCR data showed a subsequent increased expression of vitellogenin in those fingerlings obtained from contaminated effluent. FACS analysis suggested that BPA generated a significant amount of ROS in the livers of those fingerlings, leading to necrosis in hepatocytes.