Metallothionein Induction in the Coelomic Fluid of the EarthwormLumbricus terrestrisfollowing Heavy Metal Exposure: A Short Report

Abstract

Earthworms are useful bioindicator organisms for soil biomonitoring. Recently the use of pollution biomarkers in earthworms has been increasingly investigated for soil monitoring and assessment. Earthworm coelomic fluid is particularly interesting from a toxicological perspective, because it is responsible for pollutant disposition and tissue distribution to the whole organism. The aim of the present work was to study the effect of heavy metal exposure on metallothionein (Mt) induction in the coelomic fluid ofLumbricus terrestrisin view of future use as sensitive biomarker suitable for application to metal polluted soil monitoring and assessment.L. terrestriscoelomic fluid showed a detectable Mt concentration of about4.0±0.6 μg/mL (mean ± SEM,n=10) in basal physiological condition. When the animals were exposed to CuSO4or CdCl2or to a mixture of the two metals in OECD soils for 72 h, the Mt specific concentration significantly (P<0.001) increased. The Mt response in the coelomic fluid perfectly reflected the commonly used Mt response in the whole organism when the two responses were compared on the same specimens. These findings indicate the suitability of Mt determination inL. terrestriscoelomic fluid as a sensitive biomarker for application to metal polluted soil monitoring and assessment.