Effects of perfluorinated compounds on hepatic fatty acid oxidation in avian embryos using a tritium release assay

• Objective: Due to high persistence and bioaccumulationperfluorinated compounds (PFCs) are found globally in varioustypes of wildlife samples and also human samples¹. Accordingto our laboratory studies, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) hascaused early mortality in chicken embryos at doses close toconcentrations found in eggs of the Baltic guillemot². We havedesigned a method in which hepatic embryonic tissue fromchicken (Gallus domesticus) is used to investigate the effectsof PFCs on the β-oxidation of fatty acids.Materials and Methods: The embryos were exposed inovo to PFCs. On day 10 embryo livers were incubated invitro with tritiated fatty acids. Fatty acid oxidation was thencalculated from the tritium released into water, using ascintillation counter.Results: Our studies suggest a small but significant increaseof the β-oxidation of fatty acids in chicken embryonic livertissue in vitro after in ovo exposure to PFOS. The β-oxidationwas significantly induced after embryo exposure to 1 mg/kgPFOS (p=0.003) and 10 mg/kg PFOS (p=0.04), being 39%and 34% higher, respectively compared to control.Conclusion: The results show that in ovo exposure incombination with an in vitro method using a tritium releaseassay to detect effects on the β-oxidation of fatty acids inavian embryo hepatic tissue could be a useful method inelucidating possible mechanisms behind avian developmental toxicity.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

PFOS

avian

toxicology

Biology

Biologi

Biology

Biologi

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)