Abstract
The effect of daily ingestion of polypropylene microplastic on the health of tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, was evaluated. 60 fish (± 200 g) were placed in 6 aquariums (n = 10, 100 L each), constituting the following treatments: Control (without the addition of polymer), fed with 100 and 500 µg of polypropylene/kg of body weight (b.w.), respectively. After 30 days of feeding, the animals were submitted to blood collection for hemogram and biochemical study and later euthanized for gut microbiological analysis, somatic index of liver, spleen, heart, kidney, stomach, and intestine. In the serum biochemical study, an increase in cholesterol and serum Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST) activity levels was observed in animals treated with 500 µg of polypropylene. Tilapia-fed polypropylene in the diet showed an increase in thrombocyte and total leukocyte counts, marked by a significant increase in the number of circulating lymphocytes. The results of the somatic study revealed a significant increase in the stomach, liver, and heart of tilapia fed with the polymer. Increase in the number of Gram-negative microorganisms and decrease in mesophilic aerobic microorganisms were observed in the gut of fish exposed to the polymer, including a dose-response effect was observed for these analyses. Therefore, tilapias fed daily with diets containing polypropylene for 30 consecutive days showed deleterious effects, resulting in systemic inflammatory disturbs by altering liver functions, leukocyte profile, and organ morphometry, as well as changes in the intestinal microbiota. Such results demonstrate the impairment of fish health, highlighting the need for further studies that evaluate the impact of microplastics on aquatic organisms.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aracati MF, Rodrigues LF, Oliveira SL, Moraes AC, Prado EJR, Fernandes DC, Belo MAA (2021) Clinical safety of zafirlukast treatment during acute inflammatory reaction in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Ars Vet 37(2):67–73. https://doi.org/10.15361/2175-0106.2021v37n2p67-73
Banaee E, Soltanian S, Sureda A, Gholamhosseini A, Haghi BN, Akhlaghi M, Derikvandy A (2019) Evaluation of single and combined effects of cadmium and microplastic particles on biochemical and immunological parameters of common carp, Cyprinus carpio. Chemosphere 236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.07.066
Belo MAA, Charlie-Silva I (2021) Teleost Fish as an Experimental Model for Vaccine Development. In: Sunil Thomas. (Org.). Vaccine Design: Methods in Molecular Biology 2411 Methods and Protocols, Volume 2. Vaccines for Veterinary Diseases. 2ed.New York: Springer Nature, 2021, v. 2, p. 175–194. https://link.springer.com/protocol/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1888-2_10
Bhagat J, Zang L, Nishimura N, Shimada Y (2020) Zebrafish: an emerging model to study microplastic and nanoplastic toxicity. Sci Total Environ 728. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138707
Brandts I, Barria C, Martins MA, Martinez LF, Barreto A, Tvarijonaviciute A, Tort L, Oliveira M, Teles M (2021) Waterborne exposure of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) to polymethylmethacrylate nanoplastics causes effects at cellular and molecular level. J Hazard Mater 403:123590. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123590
Browne MA, Dissanayake A, Galloway TS, Lowe DM, Thompson RC (2008) Ingested microscopic Plastic Translocates to the Circulatory System of the Mussel, Mytilus edulis (L). Environ Sci Technol 42:5026–5031. https://doi.org/10.1021/es800249a
Carneiro PCF, Urbinati EC (2001) Salt as stress response mitigator of matrinxã Brycon cephalus during transport. Aquac Res 32:297–304. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2109.2001.00558.x
Costa CC, Oliveira SL, Aracati MF, Rodrigues LF, Colturato L, Montassier HJ, Belo MAA (2022) Clinical safety of treatment with Zileuton, 5-Lox inhibitor, during acute inflammatory reaction in Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Ars Vet 38(1):23–30. https://doi.org/10.15361/2175-0106.2022v38n1p23-30
Espinosa C, Cuesta A, Esteban MA (2017) Effects of dietary polyvinylchloride microparticles on general health, immune status and expression of several genes related to stress in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L.) Fish and Shellfish Immunology. 68:251–259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsi.2017.07.006
FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) (2022) The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022. https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cc0461en
Farias THV, Levy-Pereira N, Padua SB, Alves LO, Sakabe R, Belo MAA, Pilarski F (2016) Na2EDTA anticoagulant impaired blood samples from the teleost Piaractus mesopotamicus. Pesquisa Veterinária Brasileira v 36:431–435. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0100-736X2016000500013
Hamed M, Soliman HAM, Osman AGM, Sayde AEDH (2019) Assessment the effect of exposure to microplastics in Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) early juvenile. I blood biomarkers Chemosphere 228:345–350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.04.153
Hirt N, Body-Malapel M (2020) Immunotoxicity and intestinal effects of nano- and microplastics: a review of the literature. Part Fibre Toxicol 12:17–57. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12989-020-00387-7
Ivleva NP, Wiesheu AC, Niessner R (2016) Microplástico em Ecossistemas Aquáticos. Angew Chem Int Ed 56(7):1720–1739. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201606957
Jeyavani J, Sibiya A, Stalin T, Vigneshkumar G, Al-Ghanim KA, Riaz MN, Vaseeharan B (2023) Biochemical, genotoxic and histological implications of Polypropylene Microplastics on Freshwater Fish Oreochromis mossambicus: an aquatic Eco-Toxicological Assessment. Toxics 11(3):282. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics11030282
Karami A, Romano N, Galloway T, Hamzah H (2016) Virgin microplastics cause toxicity and modulate the impacts of phenanthrene on biomarker responses in african catfish (Clarias gariepinus), Environmental Research. 151:58–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2016.07.024
Kim JH, Kang JC (2016) The chromium accumulation and its physiological effects in juvenile rockfish, Sebastes schlegelii, exposed to different levels of dietary chromium (Cr6+) concentrations. Environ Toxicol Pharmacol 41:152–158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.etap.2015.12.001
Kim JH, Sohn S, Kim SK, Hur YB (2020) Effects on hematological parameters, antioxidant and immune responses, AChE, and stress indicators of olive flounders, Paralichthys olivaceus, raised in bio-floc and seawater challenged by Edwardsiella tarda. Fish and Shellfish Immunology 97:194–203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsi.2019.12.011
Kim JH, Yu YB, Choi JH (2021) Toxic effects on bioaccumulation, hematological parameters, oxidative stress, immune responses and neurotoxicity in fish exposed to microplastics: a review. J Hazard Mater 413:125423. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125423
Liebel S, Tomotake MEM, Ribeiro CAO (2013) Fish histopathology as biomarker to evaluate water quality. Ecotoxicol Environ Contam 8(2):09–15. https://doi.org/10.5132/eec.2013.02.002
Limonta GMA, Benkhalqui A, Mancia A, Bertoluci C, Abel A, Fossi MC, Panti C (2019) Microplásticos induzem alterações transcricionais, resposta imune e alterações comportamentais em peixes-zebra adultos. Sci Rep 9:15775. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-52292-5
MINITAB Inc (2018) Statistical software data analysis software. Version 18.1,
Moraes AC, Orlando EA, Prado EJR, Carvalho ACC, Machado-Neto JG, Simionato AVC, Eberlin MN, Belo MAA (2022) Ecotoxicological assessment of amoxicillin trihydrate: stability, solubility, and acute toxicity for Oreochromis niloticus, Lemna minor, and Daphnia magna. Clean Chem Eng v 01:100005. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clce.2022.100005
Olivatto GP, Carreira R, Tornisielo VL, Montagner CC (2018) Microplásticos: Contaminantes de Preocupaçao Global no Antropoceno. Rev Virtual Quimica 10(6):1968–1989. https://doi.org/10.21577/1984-6835.20180125
Schneider CA, Rasband WS, Eliceiri KW (2012) NIH Image to ImageJ: 25 years of image analysis. Nat Methods 9:671–675. https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.2089
Shim WJ, Thomposon RC (2015). Microplastics in the ocean. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 69: 265–268. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-015-0216-x
Wang W, Ge J, Yu X (2020) Bioavailability and toxicity of microplastics to fish species: a review. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 189:109913. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2019.109913
Weibel ER, Staubli W, Gnagi HR, Hess FA (1969) Correlated morphometric and biochemical studies on the liver cell. J Cell Biol. 68–91
Wen B, Ji SR, Chen ZZ, Gao JZ, Liu YN, Liu JHL, Feng XS (2018) Single and combined effects of microplastics and cadmium on the cadmium accumulation, antioxidant defence and innate immunity of the discus fish (Symphysodon aequifasciatus), Environmental Pollution. 243:462–471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.09.029
Yukgehnaish K, Kumar P, Sivachandran P, Marimuthu K, Arshad A, Paray BA, Arockiaraj J (2020) Gut microbiota metagenomics in aquaculture: factors influencing gut microbiome and its physiological role in fish. Reviews in Aquaculture 12(3):1903–1927. https://doi.org/10.1111/raq.12416
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful for the financial support from CNPq, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (Process number 307526/2018-6).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing Interests
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article. The experiment design was approved by Ethics Committee on the Use of Animals of Brazil University under protocol n° 2200039.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
do Nascimento, L.S., de Oliveira, S.L., da Costa, C.C. et al. Deleterious Effects of Polypropylene Microplastic Ingestion in Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 111, 13 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-023-03772-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-023-03772-y