Biomarkers of Oxidative Stress and Acetylcholinesterase Activity in the Blood of Grass Snake (Natrix natrix L.) during Prehibernation and Posthibernation Periods

Abstract

This work examined the enzymatic (superoxide dismutase-CuZn SOD, catalase-CAT, glutathione peroxidase-GSH-Px, glutathione reductase-GR, and the biotransformation phase II enzyme glutathione-S-transferase-GST) and nonenzymatic (total glutathione-GSH and lipid peroxides-TBARS concentrations) biomarkers of oxidative stress and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in the blood of the grass snake (Natrix natrix L.) during prehibernation and posthibernation. The animals were collected in October (prehibernation) and April (posthibernation) at the nature reserve Obedska Bara (OB) and industrial region Pancevacki Rit (PR) in Serbia. In posthibernation, decreased CAT activity and TBARS concentration in specimens from PR, and decreased GR and AChE activities, and TBARS concentration in specimens from OB were observed, whereas GR and GST activities and GSH concentration were significantly elevated in the specimens from PR. In prehibernation, CAT activity and GSH concentration were increased, while GSH-Px, GR, GST and AChE activities and TBARS concentration were decreased in the specimens from PR when compared to animals from OB. During the posthibernation, the activity of CuZn SOD was decreased, while GST and AChE activities were increased in the specimens from PR when compared to the specimens from OB. These differences represented an adaptive mechanism to oxidative stress induced by tissue reoxygenation during arousal from hibernation and could be modulated by environmental pollution.