Evaluation of antioxidant capacity and digestive enzyme activities in Mytilus galloprovincialis exposed to nanoplastics under different patterns of hypoxia

Abstract

In the marine environment, plastic pollution may occur simultaneously with hypoxia. However, current ecological risk assessments of nanoplastics have rarely considered the impact of additional environmental factors, such as hypoxia. In this study, we investigated the effect of polystyrene nanospheres (PS-NPs) on the digestive performance (antioxidant system and digestive enzymes) of mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis under different patterns of hypoxia (normoxia, constant hypoxia, and fluctuating hypoxia). The result showed that PS-NPs caused oxidative damage in the digestive glands of mussels, while all patterns of hypoxia exacerbated this oxidative damage. Activities of four digestive enzymes (α-amylase, cellulase, trypsin, and lipase) were examined. Among these, the activity of the α-amylase was inhibited by PS-NPs, and the inhibition was aggravated by all the hypoxia patterns. The cellulase activity and trypsin activity was enhanced by PS-NPs, and the increase was further stimulated by hypoxia. Lipase activity was not affected by PS-NPs alone, but significant inhibition was detected after the coexposure to PS-NPs and hypoxia. Conclusively, the combined stress of hypoxia and nanoplastics can significantly affect the digestive performance of mussels and may alter the mussel nutrient uptake strategy. Our work has provided new insight into the ecological risk assessment of plastics under global climate change.

Keywords: Bivalves; Digestion; Fluctuation; Hypoxia; Nanoplastics; Oxidative stress.