Ação de cobre e mercurio sobre estrutura nuclear e atividade de alguns sistemas enzimaticos em Triatoma infestans Klug

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

1984

RESUMO

Changes in nuclear phenotypes were found in the Malpighian tubule cells of T. infestans after treatment with pollutant metaIs, (copper and mercury). They were detected in cytological preparations, obtained from incubation of the tubules in solutions containing the metallic ions or from injection of aqueous solutions of the metallic ions in the specimens, with further removal of the tubules. The morphological analysis of the cytological preparations, revealed eight distinct nuclear phenotypes. Specially four of them ("unpacked", "homogeneous", "vacuolated" and "pyknotic" types) appear to be related to the toxic action of the heavy metaIs. On the other hand, the other types were also found in Malpighian tubules of normally healthy insects and in Malpighian tubules of insects under starvation (a physiological stress). Furthermore, the relative frequency of the normal nuclear phenotypes decreases remarkably in the treated insects. The nuclear phenotypes promoted by the action of copper and mercury would represent physiological chromatinic changes and/or they would reflect steps in the process of cellular necrosis. The nuclear phenotype "vacuolated" was the most frequent changed patter found in this work. AIso changes in functioning of some enzymic systems were studied with cytochemical procedures in the same material exposed to the heavy metaIs. The enzymic inhibition expected for the ATPases by action of heavy metaIs was not demonstrated. This supports the hypothesis of copper and mercury ions functioning ,as non-competitive enzymic inhibitors. Only copper apparently stimulated the enzymic reaction, possibly because it is an enzymic cofactor. The enzymic activity of the acid phosphatases was not either inhibited by the pollutant metaIs. An increase in content and/or availability of these enzymes was even found in the mercury-treated material. The expected inhibition promoted by metaIs in the SDH system, specially mercury, was not either demonstrated. Again, the non-competitive enzymic inhibiting behavior was suggested for copper and mercury. However, some changes in the cell shapes as demonstrated by modified patterns of mitochondria distribution was promoted by the heavy metaIs in the Malpighian tubules of T. infestans

ASSUNTO(S)

mercurio estrutura nuclear cobre - toxicologia

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