Histopathological alterations in liver tissue of the Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) juvenile after exposure to polyethylene microplastic particles (HDPE)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 university of tehran

2 Fisheries Dept. University of Tehran

3 Professor, Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran.

4 Head of nutrition and live food devision, aquaculture department Iranian Fisheries research organization

5 University of Tehran

10.22059/jfisheries.2022.348761.1343

Abstract

Increasing abundance and wide distribution of plastics is one of the most important concerns of biological communities, and aquatic environments due to high effectiveness are very important. Common plastics used in industry such as polyethylene (HDPE) it remains in the environment for several years remain and lead to the formation of small pieces. in this research, in order to investigate the possibly damage of microplastic particles to liver tissue during a period of 21 days, common carp (Cyprius carpio) juveniles were exposed to microplastics with dimensions less than 200 µm with two concentrations of 1 and 5 mg/l. The results of this research showed that microplastic particles with a concentration of 1 mg/l can cause injuries such as: liver tissue hyperplasia (HP), hypertrophy (HT), necrosis (N), sironoid hyperemia (BC), expansion of sironoids (SC) and melano-macrophage centers (MMC). and also, in the treatment containing 5 mg/l of polyethylene microplastic, necrosis and melanoma-macrophage centers are moderate and hypertrophy, expansion of sironoids, hyperplasia, sironoid hyperemia and pyknosis (P) are reduced. also, the hepatosomatic index (HSI) for the control group, tween control, treatment containing 1 mg/l microplastic and treatment containing 5 mg/l microplastic on average, it was calculated as 0.70, 0.76, 0.71, and 0.84 respectively, and only in the concentration of 5 mg/l of microplastics, there is a significant difference with the concentration of 1 mg/l and the control groups. However, no significant difference was seen in the growth of common carp juvenile. it seems that oxidative stress caused by microplastic pollutants causes damage to macromolecules such as protein and lipids, as a result, it causes all kinds of tissue damage. Finally, it can be concluded that polyethylene microplastic will cause damage to the liver tissue, and these damages will increase with increasing concentration.

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