Variation of antioxidant activity in Dreissena polymorpha specimens exposed to 2,2',4,4',5,6'-hexa BDE (BDE-154)

We evaluated the imbalance of the oxidative status in zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) specimens exposed for 96 h to environmentally relevant concentrations (0.1, 0.5, and 1 mu g/L) of the 2,2',4,4',5,6'-hexa BDE (BDE-154). The activities of three antioxidant enzymes, catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and the phase II detoxifying enzyme glutathione S-transferase (GST), were measured in the cytosolic fraction from a pool of zebra mussels. Significant variations in the activity of each single enzyme were noticed at each treatment, indicating that exposure to BDE-154 was able to impair the oxidative status of treated bivalves through the increase of reactive oxygen species. In detail, SOD and GPx were significantly induced, while CAT and GST were depressed with respect to the baseline levels. These data have confirmed that the raise of oxidative stress is the main cause of the BDE-154-induced genetic damage observed in a previous study on the zebra mussel.