Exposure to elevated temperatures and hydrogen peroxide elicits oxidative stress and antioxidant response in the Antarctic intertidal limpet Nacella concinna

This study deals with the occurrence of oxidative stress and antioxidant response in the Antarctic intertidal limpet Nacella concinna, as an effect of temperature increments and H2O2 exposure under controlled laboratory conditions. Experiments were designed to simulate transient conditions of increased T and/or H2O2 accumulation met by the limpets in intertidal rockpool habitats [5]. Specimens were collected at Jubany Station, South Shetland Islands, transferred to the Alfred-Wegener Institute, Bremerhaven and maintained in seawater aquaria at 0°C. Different groups of animals were acclimated at 4 and 9°C for 24–48 h (controls at 0°C). The effect of starvation was studied at 0°C and of H2O2 exposure at 4°C. Temperature acclimation above 0°C resulted in a progressive alteration of the lysosomal compartment in digestive gland cells, as shown by cytochemical analyses (lipofuscin and neutral lipid accumulation and lysosomal membrane destabilization). Concurrently, real activities of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (i.e. measured at the respective experimental temperature or calculated by means of previously determined Q10 values) increased in gills and digestive gland tissues. Measurements of intracellular pH at the different temperatures showed a rise from pH 7.21 at 0°C to 7.36 at 9°C. These changes in pH are indicated to increase SOD activity by approximately 10% in both kinds of tissue at 9° as compared to 0°C. H2O2 exposure at 4°C produced physiological alterations at the systemic (lowered O2 consumption) and at the cellular levels (enhanced lysosome damage). Starvation induced lysosomal alterations in animals kept at 0°C and inhibited CAT activation under H2O2 exposure at 4°C. The complex of data suggests that when Nacella migrates to intertidal levels during the Austral Spring it experiences oxidative stress which induces an antioxidant response, which is facilitated by higher temperatures and increasing intracellular pH and the exploitation of intertidal food resources. Yet, the occurrence of cellular damage and systemic alterations shows that the limpets approach their boundaries of physiological tolerance during prolonged exposure to higher temperatures and H2O2 in intertidal habitats. © 1998 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.