The heart of the adult goldfish Carassius auratus as a target of Bisphenol A: a multifaceted analysis

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a contaminant whose presence in aquatic environments is increasing. In fish embryos and larvae, it severely affects cardiac development; however, its influence on the heart function of adult fish has been scarcely analyzed. This study investigated the effects of the in vivo exposure to BPA on heart physiology, morphology, and oxidative balance in the goldfish Carassius auratus. Adult fish were exposed for 4 and 10 days to two BPA concentrations (10 mu M and 25 mu M). Ex vivo working heart preparations showed that high concentrations of BPA negatively affected cardiac hemodynamics, as revealed by an impaired Frank-Starling response. This was paralleled by increased cardio-somatic indices and by myocardial structural changes. An altered oxidative status and a modulation of stress (HSPs) and proapoptotic (Bax and Cytochrome C) proteins expression were also observed in the heart of animals exposed to BPA, with detrimental effects at the highest concentration and the longest exposure time. Results suggest that, in the adult goldfish, BPA may induce stressful conditions to the heart with timeand concentration-dependent deleterious morpho-functional alterations. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this study, the effects of in vivo exposure to BPA on the heart physiology, morphology, and oxidative balance in goldfish were investigated. High concentrations of BPA negatively affected cardiac hemodynamics and resulted in structural changes in the myocardium. The findings suggest that BPA may induce deleterious morpho-functional alterations in the adult goldfish heart in a time- and concentration-dependent manner.