What is it about?
: In this work, an attempt has been made to study the subchronic effects of arsenic exposure on the biochemical composition; mainly proteins of the liver tissues of Labeo rohita fingerlings by using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopic technique. The study was carried out using a Perkin Elmer-Spectrum Rx1 spectrometer. Because of arsenic exposure, significant reductions in the intensity as well as area of amide bands have been observed in the liver tissues. The decreased intensity of the amide bands could be interpreted as the result of alteration of the protein synthesis due to the high affinity of metal compounds towards different amino acid residues of proteins. Further, meso-2, 3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) treatment shows the recovery of the protein content in the liver tissues. To confirm that the changes observed are only due to the bio-accumulation of arsenic, the concentration of arsenic in the liver tissues of Labeo rohita was determined by using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES). It is observed that the arsenic level in the control tissues is found to be below detectable limit, whereas the arsenic exposed liver shows an accumulation of 66.68 6 0.43 lg/g and DMSA treatment reduces the arsenic content to 17.96 6 0.19 lg/g. In conclusion, this study gives clear evidence that the use of FT-IR spectroscopy is a powerful approach to achieve more insight into the protein alterations caused by arsenic.
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Why is it important?
The recent breakthroughs both in the instrumentation and in the data processing have made the FT-IR spectroscopy as a useful and powerful tool to study the biological molecules. In continuation of our earlier study (Palaniappan and Vijayasundaram, 2008), this work is undertaken to study the subchronic effects of arsenic exposure on the biochemical composition, mainly proteins of the liver tissues of Labeo rohita fingerlings by using FT-IR spectroscopic technique. Among the freshwater fish, Indian major carp, Labeo rohita has been selected for the present study, because it can withstand a wide range of experimental conditions and is valued for its nutritional composition.
Perspectives
This study gives a clear evidence of the use of FT-IR spectroscopy as a powerful approach to achieve more insight into the protein alterations caused by arsenic. A significant reduction in the intensity as well as area of amide bands has been observed in the arsenic exposed liver tissues. ICPOES results confirm that the changes observed in the protein contents are only due to the bio-accumulation of arsenic in the liver tissues of Labeo rohita fingerlings. The decreased intensity of the amide bands could be interpreted as the result of alteration of the protein synthesis due to the higher affinity of metal compounds towards different amino acid residues of proteins. The results further indicate that arsenic exposure induces significant alteration in the protein secondary structure of the liver tissues of Labeo rohita. Further, DMSA treatment shows the recovery of the protein content in the liver tissues
Dr Milton Prabu
University of Madras
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This page is a summary of: A study of the subchronic effects of arsenic exposure on the liver tissues of Labeo rohita using Fourier transform infrared technique, Environmental Toxicology, December 2009, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1002/tox.20557.
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