Linking toxicant physiological mode of action with induced gene expression changes in Caenorhabditis elegans

Background Physiologically based modelling using DEBtox (dynamic energy budget in toxicology) and transcriptional profiling were used in Caenorhabditis elegans to identify how physiological modes of action, as indicated by effects on system level resource allocation were associated with changes in gene expression following exposure to three toxic chemicals: cadmium, fluoranthene (FA) and atrazine (AZ). Results For Cd, the physiological mode of action as indicated by DEBtox model fitting was an effect on energy assimilation from food, suggesting that the transcriptional response to exposure should be dominated by changes in the expression of transcripts associated with energy metabolism and the mitochondria. While evidence for effect on genes associated with energy production were seen, an ontological analysis also indicated an effect of Cd exposure on DNA integrity and transcriptional activity. DEBtox modelling showed an effect of FA on costs for growth and reproduction (i.e. for production of new and differentiated biomass). The microarray analysis supported this effect, showing an effect of FA on protein integrity and turnover that would be expected to have consequences for rates of somatic growth. For AZ, the physiological mode of action predicted by DEBtox was increased cost for maintenance. The transcriptional analysis demonstrated that this increase resulted from effects on DNA integrity as indicated by changes in the expression of genes chromosomal repair. Conclusions Our results have established that outputs from process based models and transcriptomics analyses can help to link mechanisms of action of toxic chemicals with resulting demographic effects. Such complimentary analyses can assist in the categorisation of chemicals for risk assessment purposes

Familial hypercholesterolaemia in children and adolescents from 48 countries: a cross-sectional study

Background: Approximately 450 000 children are born with familial hypercholesterolaemia worldwide every year, yet only 2·1% of adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia were diagnosed before age 18 years via current diagnostic approaches, which are derived from observations in adults. We aimed to characterise children and adolescents with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (HeFH) and understand current approaches to the identification and management of familial hypercholesterolaemia to inform future public health strategies. Methods: For this cross-sectional study, we assessed children and adolescents younger than 18 years with a clinical or genetic diagnosis of HeFH at the time of entry into the Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Studies Collaboration (FHSC) registry between Oct 1, 2015, and Jan 31, 2021. Data in the registry were collected from 55 regional or national registries in 48 countries. Diagnoses relying on self-reported history of familial hypercholesterolaemia and suspected secondary hypercholesterolaemia were excluded from the registry; people with untreated LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) of at least 13·0 mmol/L were excluded from this study. Data were assessed overall and by WHO region, World Bank country income status, age, diagnostic criteria, and index-case status. The main outcome of this study was to assess current identification and management of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia. Findings: Of 63 093 individuals in the FHSC registry, 11 848 (18·8%) were children or adolescents younger than 18 years with HeFH and were included in this study; 5756 (50·2%) of 11 476 included individuals were female and 5720 (49·8%) were male. Sex data were missing for 372 (3·1%) of 11 848 individuals. Median age at registry entry was 9·6 years (IQR 5·8-13·2). 10 099 (89·9%) of 11 235 included individuals had a final genetically confirmed diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolaemia and 1136 (10·1%) had a clinical diagnosis. Genetically confirmed diagnosis data or clinical diagnosis data were missing for 613 (5·2%) of 11 848 individuals. Genetic diagnosis was more common in children and adolescents from high-income countries (9427 [92·4%] of 10 202) than in children and adolescents from non-high-income countries (199 [48·0%] of 415). 3414 (31·6%) of 10 804 children or adolescents were index cases. Familial-hypercholesterolaemia-related physical signs, cardiovascular risk factors, and cardiovascular disease were uncommon, but were more common in non-high-income countries. 7557 (72·4%) of 10 428 included children or adolescents were not taking lipid-lowering medication (LLM) and had a median LDL-C of 5·00 mmol/L (IQR 4·05-6·08). Compared with genetic diagnosis, the use of unadapted clinical criteria intended for use in adults and reliant on more extreme phenotypes could result in 50-75% of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia not being identified. Interpretation: Clinical characteristics observed in adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia are uncommon in children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia, hence detection in this age group relies on measurement of LDL-C and genetic confirmation. Where genetic testing is unavailable, increased availability and use of LDL-C measurements in the first few years of life could help reduce the current gap between prevalence and detection, enabling increased use of combination LLM to reach recommended LDL-C targets early in life

Effect of pH on metal speciation and resulting metal uptake and toxicity for earthworms

In the present study, relationships between changes in the solubility and speciation of metals in contaminated soils under different pH regimes and their toxicity to earthworms were investigated. Earthworms (Lumbricus rubellus) were exposed in a laboratory bioassay to metalliferous soils under three pH regimes: Unamended pH, pH lowered by one unit (pH −1), and pH increased by one unit (pH +1). In each soil, total (hot nitric acid–extractable) and 0.01 M CaCl2–extractable metal concentrations were measured and soil pore-water chemistry analyzed to allow metal speciation to be modeled using the Windermere Humic Aqueous Model. Earthworm metal accumulation was determined and toxicity assessed by measuring survival and reproduction and at the molecular level by recording expression of the gene encoding metallothionein-2 (MT-2) using quantitative reverse transcriptase– polymerase chain reaction. Both metal solubility and speciation were found to be highly pH dependent. Metal accumulation in earthworms was influenced by soil concentration and, in some cases (e.g., Cd), by pH. Reproduction was affected (reduced up to 90%) by soil metal level, pH, and their interaction. Relationships between analyzed and calculated Zn concentrations and toxicity and between analyzed and calculated Cd concentrations and tissue accumulation and MT-2 expression were compared by fitting dose–response models and assessing the fit of the data. This analysis indicated that values based on a pH-adjusted free ion concentration best explained toxicity (r2 = 0.82) and accumulation (r2 = 0.54). Expression of MT-2 was, however, poorly correlated (p > 0.05) with all analyzed and modeled soil metal concentrations

Influence of dimethoate on acetylcholinesterase activity and locomotor function in terrestrial isopods

Locomotor behavior in terrestrial organisms is crucial for burrowing, avoiding predators, food seeking, migration, and reproduction; therefore, it is a parameter with ecological relevance. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is a nervous system enzyme inhibited by several compounds and widely used as an exposure biomarker in several organisms. Moreover, changes in energy reserves also may indicate an exposure to a stress situation. The aim of this study is to link biomarkers of different levels of biological organization in isopods exposed to increasing doses of dimethoate in semifield conditions. Locomotor parameters, AChE activity, and energy reserves (lipid, glycogen, and protein contents) were evaluated in the isopod Porcellio dilatatus after 48-h and 10-d exposure to dimethoate-contaminated soil. Results showed a clear impairment of both locomotor and AChE activity during the entire study, although effects were more pronounced after 48 h. Most locomotor parameters and AChE activity showed a clear dose-response relationship. By contrast, no clear trend was observed on energetic components. A positive and significant relationship was found between AChE activity and those locomotor parameters indicating activity, and the opposite was observed with those locomotor parameters indicating confusion and disorientation. The results obtained in this study enhance the importance of linking biochemical responses to parameters with ecological relevance at individual level, the value of locomotor behavior as an important marker to assess effects of toxicants, and also the usefulness and the acquisition of ecological relevance by AChE as a biomarker, by linking it with ecologically relevant behavioral parameters.FCT - SFRH/BM/385/2000ERAS project - POCTI/MGS/34782/200

Combined chemical (Fluoranthene) and drought effects on Lumbricus rubellus demonstrates the applicability of the independent action model for multiple stressor assessment

The combined effect of a chemical (fluoranthene) and a nonchemical stress (reduced soil moisture content) to the widely distributed earthworm Lumbricus rubellus were investigated in a laboratory study. Neither fluoranthene (up to 500 μg/g) nor low soil moisture (15% below optimal) had a significant effect on the survival of the exposed worms, but a significant effect on reproduction (cocoon production rate) was found for both stressors (p < 0.001 in both cases). The response of cocoon production to each stressor could be well described by a logistic model; this suggested that the joint effects may be applicable to description using the independent action (IA) model that is widely used in pharmacology and chemical mixture risk assessment [1]. Fitting of the IA model provided a good description of the combined stressor data (accounting for 53.7% of total variation) and was the most parsimonious model describing joint effect (i.e., the description of the data was not improved by addition of further parameters accounting for synergism or antagonism). Thus, the independent action of the two responses was further supported by measurement of internal fluoranthene exposure. The chemical activity of fluoranthene in worm tissue was correlated only with soil fluoranthene concentration and not with soil moisture content. Taken together these results suggest that the IA model can help interpret the joint effects of chemical and nonchemical stressors. Such analyses should, however, be done with caution since the literature data set suggests that there may be cases where interactions between stressors result in joint effects that differ significantly from IA predictions

Transcriptome profiling of developmental and xenobiotic responses in a keystone soil animal, the oligochaete annelid Lumbricus Rubellus

Background Natural contamination and anthropogenic pollution of soils are likely to be major determinants of functioning and survival of keystone invertebrate taxa. Soil animals will have both evolutionary adaptation and genetically programmed responses to these toxic chemicals, but mechanistic understanding of such is sparse. The clitellate annelid Lumbricus rubellus is a model organism for soil health testing, but genetic data have been lacking. Results We generated a 17,000 sequence expressed sequence tag dataset, defining ~8,100 different putative genes, and built an 8,000-element transcriptome microarray for L. rubellus. Strikingly, less than half the putative genes (43%) were assigned annotations from the gene ontology (GO) system; this reflects the phylogenetic uniqueness of earthworms compared to the well-annotated model animals. The microarray was used to identify adult- and juvenile-specific transcript profiles in untreated animals and to determine dose-response transcription profiles following exposure to three xenobiotics from different chemical classes: inorganic (the metal cadmium), organic (the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon fluoranthene), and agrochemical (the herbicide atrazine). Analysis of these profiles revealed compound-specific fingerprints which identify the molecular responses of this annelid to each contaminant. The data and analyses are available in an integrated database, LumbriBASE. Conclusion L. rubellus has a complex response to contaminant exposure, but this can be efficiently analysed using molecular methods, revealing unique response profiles for different classes of effector. These profiles may assist in the development of novel monitoring or bioremediation protocols, as well as in understanding the ecosystem effects of exposure