Patricia Burkhardt-holm | University of Basel, Switzerland (original) (raw)

Papers by Patricia Burkhardt-holm

The Histochemical journal, 1999

Metallothionein, a biomarker of exposure and toxicity of heavy metals, has been detected in the g... more Metallothionein, a biomarker of exposure and toxicity of heavy metals, has been detected in the gills of brown trout (Salmo trutta fario L.) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss Richardson) by means of immunohistochemistry. A very prominent labelling of chloride cells was found after exposure to diluted sewage plant effluents. No significant increase was observed in either the number of labelled cells or their labelling intensity after exposure to water of a polluted river compared to fish kept in tap water. These results do not correlate with findings of a histopathological study, suggesting that the metal levels at the sewage treatment plant were too low to produce gross histopathology. A comparison between the species indicated that the rainbow trout showed a generally higher metallothionein expression than the brown trout.

International Journal of Water Resources Development, 2010

Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 2000

Nonylphenol is a biodegradation product of nonionic surfactants and has recently attracted consid... more Nonylphenol is a biodegradation product of nonionic surfactants and has recently attracted considerable attention due to its estrogenic potential. Sexually mature male rainbow trout were repeatedly exposed (one to four periods of 10 days each) to environmentally relevant concentrations of nonylphenol (1 microg/L, 10 microg/L) and for comparison, trout were injected with estradiol. Since estrogens are known to induce structural changes within the fish skin, a similar effect of xenobiotics with estrogen-like activity was assumed. Samples of skin were evaluated by means of light and electron microscopy and histochemistry. In trout exposed to nonylphenol and to estradiol, the structure of the epidermis was altered: an irregular overall architecture was often accompanied by detached pavement cells, vacuolation of the cytoplasm, and severely deformed cell nuclei. However, the granulation pattern of the mucous cells was influenced exclusively after exposition to nonylphenol. The number of large and irregularly shaped mucosomes depended more on the exposure period than on the concentration of nonylphenol. Furthermore, this alteration has not yet been reported for any other pollutant or stressor and, thus, can be classified as an effect that would strongly indicate exposure to nonylphenol.

Acta Zoologica, 1992

The gastro-intestinal tract of Polypterus senegalus was investigated by means of electron microsc... more The gastro-intestinal tract of Polypterus senegalus was investigated by means of electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry. Cilia-bearing cells can be observed over the whole length of the intestine. All enterocytes along the intestinal tract are characterized by apical ...

Umweltwissenschaften und Schadstoff-Forschung, 2009

Handbook of Transdisciplinary Research, 2008

The Histochemical journal

In order to characterize the glycoconjugate residues in skin and gills of the adult rainbow trout... more In order to characterize the glycoconjugate residues in skin and gills of the adult rainbow trout, the binding pattern of five biotinylated lectins with different carbohydrate specificities was examined. In the skin, mucous cells revealed binding sites for PNA and SBA; filament-containing cells were additionally labelled with Con A. However, the basal cell layer showed no reaction. In the gill, subpopulations of mucous cells reacted with Con A, PNA, SBA and UEA-I. This broader spectrum of glycoconjugates in gill mucous cells compared with the epidermal mucous cells could point to the additional function of gill mucus in ion and osmoregulation. Lectin binding sites were less common in the respiratory epithelial cells of the secondary lamellae than in those of the primary lamellae. Chloride cells revealed mannose, galactose and fucose residues. Immature chloride cells, as indicated by a comparison with Na+/K+ ATPase immunolabelling, reacted with Con A; subpopulations of them reacted w...

Journal of Fish Biology, 1997

Cell And Tissue Research, 1989

Page 1. Cell Tissue Res (1989) 255:245-254 and Tissue Research 9 Springer-Verlag 1989 A comparati... more Page 1. Cell Tissue Res (1989) 255:245-254 and Tissue Research 9 Springer-Verlag 1989 A comparative study of neuropeptides in the intestine of two stomachless teleosts (Poecilia reticulata, Leuciscus idus melanotus) under conditions of feeding ...

Environmental science & technology, Jan 7, 2015

Climate change and anthropogenic pollution are of increasing concern in remote areas such as Anta... more Climate change and anthropogenic pollution are of increasing concern in remote areas such as Antarctica. The evolutionary adaptation of Antarctic notothenioid fish to the cold and stable Southern Ocean led to a low plasticity of their physiological functions, what may limit their capacity to deal with altered temperature regimes and pollution in the Antarctic environment. Using a biochemical approach, we aimed to assess the hepatic biotransformation capacities of Antarctic fish species by determining (i) the activities of ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST), and (ii) the metabolic clearance of benzo(a)pyrene by hepatic S9 supernatants. In addition, we determined the thermal sensitivity of the xenobiotic biotransformation enzymes. We investigated the xenobiotic metabolism of the red-blooded Gobionotothen gibberifrons and Notothenia rossii, the hemoglobin-less Chaenocephalus aceratus and Champsocephalus gunnari, and the rainbow trout Oncorhynchus my...

The hyporheic zone can be characterized by multiple abiotic parameters (e.g. bulk density, textur... more The hyporheic zone can be characterized by multiple abiotic parameters (e.g. bulk density, texture, temperature, oxygen, ammonium, nitrate) which are all influenced directly or indirectly by the exchange processes between surface water and groundwater. These processes can vary both in time and space and are mainly driven by river discharge, ground water level and flow patterns. The input of fine sediment particles can change water-riverbed interactions through river bed clogging potentially affecting the embryonal development and survival of gravel spawning fish, such as brown trout (Salmo trutta L.). With our investigations we aim to understand these complex interactions spatially and temporally on a relevant small scale, i.e. within individual artificial brown trout redds. We designed an experimental field setup to directly investigate i) the influence of the abiotic river and redd environment on brown trout embryo development and ii) the hydrological dynamics affecting the abioti...

Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

This field study examined the vitellogenin (VTG) biomarker response under conditions of low and f... more This field study examined the vitellogenin (VTG) biomarker response under conditions of low and fluctuating activities of environmental estrogenicity. The present study was performed on immature brown trout (Salmo trutta) exposed to the small river Luetzelmurg, which is located in the prealpine Swiss midland region and receives effluents from a single sewage treatment plant (STP). To understand better factors influencing the relationship between estrogenic exposure and VTG induction, we compared VTG levels in caged (stationary) and feral (free-ranging) fish, VTG levels in fish from up- and downstream of the STP, and two different methods for quantifying VTG (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay vs real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction), and we used passive samplers (polar organic chemical integrative sampler [POCIS]) to integrate the variable, bioaccumulative estrogenic load in the river water over time. The POCIS from the downstream site contained approximately 20-...

Aquatic Toxicology

Transient exposure of brown trout embryos from fertilization until hatch (70 days) to 17β-estradi... more Transient exposure of brown trout embryos from fertilization until hatch (70 days) to 17β-estradiol (E2) was investigated. Embryos were exposed to 3.8 and 38.0 ng/L E2 for 2 hours, respectively, under four scenarios: (A) exposure once at the day of fertilization (0 days post-fertilization, dpf), (B) once at eyeing stage (38 dpf), (C) weekly exposure until hatch or (D) bi-weekly exposure until hatch. Endpoints to assess estrogen impact on embryo development were fertilization success, chronological sequence of developmental events, hatching process, larval malformations, heart rate, body length and mortality. Concentration-dependent acceleration of development until median hatch was observed in all exposure scenarios with the strongest effect observed for embryos exposed once at 0 dpf. In addition, the hatching period was significantly prolonged by 4 to 5 days in groups receiving single estrogen exposures (scenarios A and B). Heart rate on hatching day was significantly depressed wit...

Mycotoxin Research, 2015

The mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) has been shown to regularly occur at relevant concentrations i... more The mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) has been shown to regularly occur at relevant concentrations in feed designed for aquaculture use, but little is known about the consequences of its presence on the organisms that consume the DON-contaminated feed. Previous studies indicated a down-regulation of pro-inflammatory responses in carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) after 4 weeks of feeding DON. The present study examined the time course of innate immune responses of carp to orally administered DON. Changes in mRNA levels of immune genes in different organs (head kidney, trunk kidney, spleen, liver, and intestine) were observed indicating immune-modulating properties of DON. The immune-modulatory effects during the acute phase of DON exposure were characterized by the activation of both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and enzymes in carp. The subchronic responses to DON were characterized by activation of arginases culminating in increased arginase activity in head kidney leukocytes after 26 days of DON treatment. These results suggest profound effects of this mycotoxin on fish in aquaculture.

PloS one, 2014

Water level fluctuations in lakes lead to shoreline displacement. The seasonality of flooding or ... more Water level fluctuations in lakes lead to shoreline displacement. The seasonality of flooding or beaching of the littoral area affects nutrient cycling, redox gradients in sediments, and life cycles of aquatic organisms. Despite the ecological importance of water level fluctuations, we still lack a method that assesses water levels in the context of hydropower operations. Water levels in reservoirs are influenced by the operator of a hydropower plant, who discharges water through the turbines or stores water in the reservoir, in a fashion that maximizes profit. This rationale governs the seasonal operation scheme and hence determines the water levels within the boundaries of the reservoir's water balance. For progress towards a sustainable development of hydropower, the benefits of this form of electricity generation have to be weighed against the possible detrimental effects of the anthropogenic water level fluctuations. We developed a hydro-economic model that combines an econ...

Cell biology and toxicology, 2014

The worldwide distribution and high bioaccumulation potential of pentachlorophenol (PCP) in aquat... more The worldwide distribution and high bioaccumulation potential of pentachlorophenol (PCP) in aquatic organisms imply a high toxicological impact in aquatic systems. Firstly, our investigations show that, similar to mammalian cell lines, PCP can be metabolized to tetrachlorohydroquinone (TCHQ) in the permanent cell line derived from rainbow trout liver cells (RTL-W1). Moreover, we demonstrate that PCP as well as its metabolite TCHQ is capable of influencing the viability of these cells. Three cell viability assays were performed to assess possible cellular targets of these substances. Thus, the cytotoxicity of the PCP-derivative TCHQ was shown for the first time in a fish cell line. Further investigations revealed the involvement of ROS in the cytotoxicity of PCP and its metabolite TCHQ. The observation of oxidative stress provides a plausible explanation for the increased cytotoxicity at higher concentrations especially for PCP and implies possible mechanisms underlying these observa...

Environmental science & technology, 2005

The Histochemical journal, 1998

The detection of vitellogenin, a yolk precursor protein, may serve as a biomarker for exposure to... more The detection of vitellogenin, a yolk precursor protein, may serve as a biomarker for exposure to environmental oestrogens as its induction by xenobiotic oestrogens in the immature and male fish has been reported repeatedly. In the present work, juvenile brown trout were injected with oestradiol (5 microg g(-1) body weight oestradiol benzoate) in order to assess the induction and organ distribution of vitellogenin by means of immunohistochemistry. In addition, brown trout collected from Swiss rivers were analysed. Vitellogenin was detected in the oestradiol-injected juvenile trout but not in uninjected controls. The presence of vitellogenin was also demonstrated in a male and an immature feral brown trout from one of two locations downstream of three sewage treatment plants. In contrast, no positive staining was found in livers of trout upstream of the respective plants. The results demonstrate the suitability of immunohistochemistry for monitoring feral fish for the presence of vit...