Sensitivity of brown trout reproduction to long-term estrogenic exposure

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Sara Schubert - , Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, University of Basel (Author)
  • Armin Peter - , Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Author)
  • Richard Burki - , University of Bern (Author)
  • René Schönenberger - , Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Author)
  • Marc J.F. Suter - , Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Author)
  • Helmut Segner - , University of Bern (Author)
  • Patricia Burkhardt-Holm - , University of Basel (Author)

Abstract

A decline in brown trout (Salmo trutta fario) catches has been reported in Switzerland, but at present the causative factors have not been clearly identified. Estrogen-active endocrine disrupters (EEDs) have been suggested as one possible explanation, since they are widespread in the aquatic environment and often found at elevated concentrations. In the present study the effects of long-term estrogenic exposure on the reproductive capability of brown trout were investigated. Adult fish were continuously exposed to an environmentally relevant mixture of the natural estrogens estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (E2) and the xenoestrogen 4-nonylphenol (NP); the average measured concentrations over the entire exposure time (n = 9) were 14.0 ng/l (Min 8.1 and Max 20.6) for E1, 2.1 ng/l (Min 1.3 and Max 4.1) for E2 and 111.0 ng/l (Min 106.7 and Max 115.9) for NP. A solvent control served as negative control, and up to 10-fold higher mixture concentration than the environmentally relevant concentration served as positive control. The fish were exposed for 150 days from the onset of gonadal recrudescence until sexual maturation. Plasma vitellogenin (Vtg) was significantly induced by both concentrations of the estrogenic mixture, whereas effects on growth and fertility were only observed in fish exposed to the high mixture treatment. Fertilization success and offspring hatchability in brown trout exposed to the high mixture treatment were significantly reduced to 9% and 6%, respectively. Developmental time from fertilization until hatching, the percentage of larvae with malformations and survival of larvae, however, were not affected. The results suggest that a combination of estrogen-active compounds at environmentally relevant concentrations would not adversely affect those parameters of brown trout reproductive capability measured in this study. Plasma Vtg in male brown trout appeared to be more sensitive to (xeno)estrogen exposure than the measured reproductive effects.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)65-72
Number of pages8
JournalAquatic toxicology
Volume90
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 20 Oct 2008
Peer-reviewedYes
Externally publishedYes

External IDs

PubMed 18804294
ORCID /0000-0003-1054-8080/work/142657176

Keywords

Keywords

  • Brown trout, Environmental estrogens, Fertilization, Growth, Reproduction, Vitellogenin