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Oxidative stress effects on the snail Helix aspersa of exposure to the metal dust emitted by the Annaba steel complex in Northeastern Algeria Volume 11, issue 3, Mai-Juin 2012

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Authors
Université Badji Mokhtar Laboratoire de toxicologie cellulaire BP 12 Annaba 23000 Algérie

The aim of the study is to examine the impact of metal dust collected at the EL-Hadjar (Algeria) steel complex on Helix aspersa, a gastropod that serves as a bioindicator and bioaccumulator of environmental pollution. Acute and subacute toxicity were measured. Specifically, oxidative stress was assessed by measuring non-enzymatic (GSH) and enzymatic (Catalase and GST) antioxidants in the snails’ liver-pancreas system (digestive gland) and kidney. Lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde, MDA) was also evaluated as a marker of cell damage. In the snails treated by metal dust at a concentration of 1,500 μg/g, compared with untreated control snails, GSH increased 144% in the digestive gland and 49.9% in the kidney, GST decreased 88.75% in the digestive gland and 77.78% in the kidney, and catalase activity decreased 73.53% in the digestive gland and 90.73% in the kidney. AChE activity also decreased by 97.25% in treated snails, and MDA increased significantly: 94.77% in the digestive gland and 81.3% in the kidney.