Antioxidant responses and pathological changes in the gill of zebrafish (Danio rerio) after chronic exposure to arsenite at its reference dose.

Gill, as the organ of fish to contact most directly with xenobiotics, suffered more threat. To evaluate the impact of arsenite (AsIII) on the gill of fish, we measured the antioxidative responses (superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities) and oxidative damage (malondialdehyde (MDA) content), histological changes and mRNA transcriptional responses of zebrafish gill, after exposure to AsIII (0, 10, 50, 100, and 150 μg L−1) solutions for 28 days. We found that AsIII increased the activities of CAT by 46%–87%, decreased the activities of SOD and the contents of MDA by 19% and 21%–32%. Furthermore, CuZnSOD and MnSOD mRNA transcription levels were also inhibited, decreasing by 62%–82% and 70%–77%. Besides, ≥ 100 μg L−1 AsIII also caused histological changes (a loss of mucus and desquamation in the surface of the epithelial cells) on zebrafish gill. These results showed that low concentrations of AsIII influenced biochemical and physiological performances of fish gill, which probably aggravates the toxic effect of AsIII on fish.