Specific Features of Antioxidant Glutathione System in Tissues of the Black Sea Bivalve Mollusk Cerastoderma glaucum (Cardiidae)

Abstract

The antioxidant glutathione system (AGS) and lipid peroxidation (LP) level in tissues of the Black Sea cockle Cerastoderma glaucum (Bruguiere, 1789) have been investigated and compared with those of other Black Sea bivalve mollusks with high resistance to oxidative stress (OS), namely, mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamarck, 1819) and anadara Anadara kagoshimensis (Tokunaga, 1906). The activity of glutathione peroxidase (GP) and glutathione reductase (GR) and the level of reduced glutathione (GSH) and LP products are measured in the hepatopancreas, gills, and foot of the mollusks. The parameters of AGS in C. glaucum are found to have tissue specificity. The hepatopancreas has the highest GP activity, 1.7–4.2 times higher than in the gills and foot of the mollusk. The gills have the lowest GSH level (by a factor of 2.1–2.3 times lower) and the highest GR activity (3.1–5.8 times higher) when compared to other tissues. In the cockle foot, the level of GSH is close to that in hepatopancreas and the activity of GP and GR is by a factor of 1.7–4.2 lower than in other tissues. In all studied tissues of C. glaucum, the LP level is significantly lower, i.e., by a factor of 3.2–16.3, when compared with that in mussel and anadara.