MEASURES OF OXIDATIVE STRESS RELATED TO SEAFOOD CONTAMINATION

The use of biomonitoring methods in the control strategies for chemical pollution has several advantages over chemical monitoring.1 To evaluate the human health risks resulting from fish consumption, biomarkers are used to evaluate the “early adverse effects” caused by contaminants on organisms in their natural habitat. Toxic components in the marine environment are responsible for an increased oxidative state, caused by production of oxygen reactive species, detectable by biochemical markers of oxidative stress such as malondialdehyde (MDA), used to assess the extent of lipid peroxidation that causes food spoilage, rancidity, and deterioration particularly in oily foods including seafood. We determined MDA in fish liver, using a new method by high-performance liquid chromatography. 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine was used for the MDA derivatization and conversion into hydrazone (HDZ).2 Homogenate and extracted samples, were analyzed on ODS2 column and a photodiode array detector. The mobile phase consisted of 0.2% acetic acid (v/v) in distilled water and acetonitrile (42:58, v/v). The present method was validated in terms of linearity, lower limit of quantification, lower limit of detection, precision, accuracy, recovery, and stability of HDZ, according to U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines. The presented study is part of a multidisciplinary protocol for environmental monitoring of the Ionic coast of Sicily (supported by FIR, 2014).