Antioxidant enzymes and GST activity in natural populations of Holandriana holandrii from the Bosna River

Abstract

Specimens of the freshwater snail Holandriana holandrii affected by different levels of contamination were collected from 3 sites within the Bosna River Basin, i.e. Visoko, Doboj, and Modrica. The activities of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) were investigated in order to understand their variation with respect to the pollution status of the sampling locations. The results revealed a significant increase in CAT, GPx, and GST activities in the snails collected from Modrica, suggesting that the animals at this location are exposed to a higher level of oxidative stress as compared to those from Visoko and Doboj. On the other hand, increased SOD activity measured in specimens from Visoko was indicative of the presence of increased levels of superoxide anion radical. No snails from any location were significantly exposed to organic pollution, since its concentration in the whole body homogenates was below the limit of detection. Our findings show that changes in antioxidant enzymes and GST activity can be used as parameters in environmental monitoring programs.