Oxidative damage in rainbow trout caged in a polluted river

Sewage treatment works (STWs) are a common source of chemicals entering into the aquatic environment. In order to assess effects of these effluents on oxidative stress parameters in aquatic organisms, we caged rainbow trout at five sites: upstream, near an STW effluent, and three sites downstream in the river Viskan in western Sweden for 14 days during autumn, 2006. We then measured protein carbonyls in plasma as well as 20S proteosome activity and lipid peroxidation products, i.e. MDA and 4-HNE, in liver samples. Levels of both lipid and protein oxidative damage products were elevated in fish caged near the STW effluent while 20S activity showed no differences. This argues that complex mixtures of chemicals entering into the aquatic environment do have deleterious effects on fish. Additionally, oxidative stress parameters can serve as a biomarker in aquatic organisms.