Abstract:
To investigate the effect of different Cd (0 (control), 50, and 200 μg/L Cd
2+) on Yellow catfish (
Pelteobagrus fulvidraco), fish were exposed for 8 weeks before analyzing the histological structure, antioxidant status and immune-related gene expression in gills. The results showed that Cd
2+ exposure induced significant Cd accumulation and histological changes in gill, such as aneurism, hyperplasia, curling of lamella and cell desquamation. Meanwhile, Cd
2+ increased the activity of glutathione-S-transferase (GST), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and anti-hydroxyl radical (AHR) as well as the content of hydrogen peroxide (H
2O
2), and it decreased catalase (CAT) activity and glutathione (GSH) content. However, Cd
2+ had no significant effect on superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. In addition, Cd exposure up-regulated tumor necrosis factor-a (
tnf-
a), major histocompatibility complex (
mhc), interleukin-10 (
il-10), transforming growth factor-β (
tgf-
β) and complement factor C3 (
c3) expressions, but down-regulated interleukin-1β (
il-
1β), interleukin-8 (
il-8) and lysozyme (
lys) transcription levels. These results showed that Cd exposure resulted in the accumulation of Cd, and induced histological damage, oxidative stress and immune response of gill in yellow catfish.