Chromosomal Aberration Assessment of East Asian Bullfrog (Hoplobatrachus rugulosus) with Arsenic Contamination from a Gold Mine In Vivo

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to investigate the chromosomal aberrations of the East Asian bullfrog (Hoplobatrachus rugulosus) exposed to arsenic contaminated in water and sediment from gold mining in vivo compared to an unaffected area. The water and sediment samples were collected from Huai Lax Stream near the tailing pond where arsenic concentrations were analyzed before the experiment. Arsenic concentrations in water, sediment and H. rugulosus samples were measured by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) and chromosomal aberration assessment was prepared from bone marrow by direct method. The average arsenic concentrations of water and sediment samples were 0.23±0.01 mg/L and 192.80±8.08 mg/kg, respectively, which were higher than the permissible limit of the water and soil quality standards. The average arsenic concentrations of H. rugulosus samples exposed to arsenic in period 1, 2 and 3 weeks were 0.04±0.01, 0.11±0.05 and 0.33±0.03 mg/kg, respectively which were lower than the standard of arsenic contamination in food. Chromosomal aberrations assessment of H. rugulosus have been exposed to arsenic in a period of 1 week found 4 forms including chromatid gap (SCG), single chromatid break (SCB), deletion (D) and fragmentation (F). The period of 2 week found 3 forms including iso chromatid gap (ISCG), deletion (D) and fragmentation (F). The period of 3 week found 5 forms including single chromatid gap (SCG), iso chromatid gap (ISCG), single chromatid break (SCB), deletion (D) and fragmentation (F). Statistical analysis indicated that there were significant differences between the percentage of chromosomal aberration of bullfrog that have been exposed to arsenic in period of 3 week (p<0.05).