The consumption of seafood has increased in recent years, especially in coastal
regions. The consumption of mussels provides proteins, essential minerals and vitamins,
and thus, some protection from certain diseases but the risks and benefits of their
consumption are still hard to assess because of the metals bioaccumulated from the
marine environment, with their toxicity. Mussels accumulate a wide range of metals,
included cadmium, in their soft tissue. Cadmium is a heavy metal particularly hazardous
for human health and is an important pollutant in estuarine and coastal environments.
Thus, the determination of the concentrations of cadmium in mussels is essential because
of their usage as seafood and the potential adverse effects of their consumption on
human health. In order to identify a quick cadmium bioaccumulation marker usable in
monitoring programs, we analyzed the metal content in Mytilus galloprovincialis gill
tissues and its relationship with hsp70 expression levels after a laboratory exposure for
24 h to 1,5; 5 and 10 μM CdCl2 in artificial sea water. Inductively coupled plasma-mass
spectrometry showed that cadmium content increased in gills tissues in an exposure
dose-dependent fashion. RT-qPCR, showed that Cd exposure induced hsp70 increase
resulting in 3,1;10 and 12 fold at 1,5; 5, 10 μM, respectively in comparison with unexposed
mussels. Finally, hsp70 expression levels correlated with the amount of bioaccumulated
cadmium in gill tissue, indicating hsp70 as a potential marker, even if not univocally, of
significative cadmium bioaccumulation usable in environmental monitoring programs
and for seafood safety