Reactivity of metallothioneins of frog Rana ridibunda treated by copper and zinc ions.

The metal-buffering and stress proteins metallothioneins (MTs) of frog are characterised by unusually high content of copper as for vertebrate animals and instability that was shown in our previous studies. They easily lost copper and especially zinc under unfavourable conditions. The aim of this study was to examine the reactivity of SH groups in the MTs from the liver of frog Rana ridibunda after the effect of Cu2+ (0.

Validation of oxidative stress responses in two populations of frogs from Western Ukraine.

Although amphibians are considered to be good bioindicators of environmental pollution, few data are available concerning their biochemical parameters in natural populations. We investigated seasonal (spring, summer, autumn) and spatial (wetlands in rural and urban areas) fluctuations of oxidative stress biomarkers in the liver of frog Rana ridibunda in Western Ukraine. The Centroid grouping analysis demonstrated that despite the fluctuations of separate indices, frogs from an urban site in summer and autumn are differed widely from those at the same site in spring and frogs from the rural site in all three seasons, joined in common set.

Different responses of biochemical markers in frogs (Rana ridibunda) from urban and rural wetlands to the effect of carbamate fungicide.

Laboratory studies were conducted to determine the effects of carbamate fungicide TATTU (mixture of propamocarb and mancozeb, 0.091 mg L(-1)) on biochemical markers of exposure in Rana ridibunda from clean (reference) and polluted sites. The untreated animals from the polluted site had lower Cu,Zn- and Mn-superoxide dismutase (SOD) and acetylcholinesterase activity, the levels of lipid peroxidation products (TBARS) and protein carbonyls in the liver and vitellogenin-like proteins (Vtg-LP) in the serum, but higher levels of glutathione in the liver in comparison with untreated frogs from the reference site.

Seasonal and spatial comparison of metallothioneins in frog Rana ridibunda from feral populations.

The aim of this study was to elucidate the seasonal and spatial regularity of the properties of metallothioneins (MTs) from the liver and kidney of the frog Rana ridibunda in rural (R) and urban (U) sites in Western Ukraine. This allowed examination of their possibility use in biomonitoring of environmental quality. The positive correlation for Zn and negative correlation for Cu were reflected between their content in the liver and MTs.

Comparison of metal bioavailability in frogs from urban and rural sites of Western Ukraine.

The seasonal and spatial fluctuations of heavy metals in the liver of the frog Rana ridibunda from a river in Western Ukraine were investigated. Liver weight was seen to increase from spring to summer/autumn, most probably as a result of accumulation of metabolites, especially fat and glycogen. The concentrations of the metals found in the liver of the frog was in the order: Fe>Cu approximately Zn>Mn>Cd.