title: Arsenic toxicity: a heart-breaking saga of a freshwater mollusc.
abstract: The freshwater wetland systems of India is a complex habitat that supports a broad range of diverse species including molluscs, which play an important role in supplementing third world countries. In the arsenic affected flood plains of West Bengal, a huge amount of arsenic laden groundwater is raised for the purpose of irrigation. Agricultural runoffs and flood water movement during monsoon may cause accumulation of arsenic in the adjacent freshwater aquifers, the common habitat of Lamellidens marginalis (Mollusca; Bivalvia; Eulamellibranchiata), a filter feeder, sensitive to altered environmental conditions. To examine the nature of toxicity induced by inorganic arsenic on both the haemocytes and tissues of the invertebrate heart, the animals were exposed to five different sublethal concentrations of sodium arsenite for a maximum time span of 30 days in vitro. Significant differences were recorded in the total haemocyte count, biochemical and histopathological parameters of the heart of L. marginalis under the arsenic induced stress. Our observations indicate the development of profound haematopoietic and cardiac stress under the sublethal inorganic arsenite exposure and it also implies the nature of risk imposed on the freshwater aquatic ecosystem under potential arsenic contamination.
authors.affiliation: Parasitology and Immunology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, 8, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road, Maulana Azad College, Kolkata 700013, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Sudipta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chakraborty
authors.forename: Mitali
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.forename: Sajal
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ray
mesh_terms: D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D018053:Arsenites / Q000633:toxicity*; D001772:Blood Cell Count; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000737:chemistry; D006321:Heart / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006434:Hemocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D006458:Hemolymph / Q000502:physiology; D007194:India; D017670:Sodium Compounds / Q000633:toxicity*; D013997:Time Factors; D049876:Unionidae / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D018053:Arsenites; D017670:Sodium Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C017947:sodium arsenite; D000110:Acetylcholinesterase