Properties of Two Cellular Biomarker Parameters in the Blood of Farmed Pacific Oyster, Crassostrea gigas, Exposed to Polychlorinated Biphenyls

Two cellular biomarker parameters of the farmed Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas were studied in vivo and in vitro after exposure to concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls in terms of neural red uptake (NRU) and lysozyme activity. The oysters exposed in vivo to the xenobiotic concentrations, 0, 30, 90, and 180 ng/g for 14 days, enhanced hemocyte NRU with occasional significant differences (P<0.05), depending on the chemical concentration and duration. An adverse tendency was manifest in the lysozyme activities both in the hemocyte and serum of the oyster treated with the chemical in a same manner, rendering these two cellular parameters as biomarker candidates against the chemical. The oysters exposed in vitro to the chemical concentrations, 0, 1, 5, 10, 100, 1,000, and 10,000 ng/g for 24 hrs at $10^{\circ}C$ showed a similar tendancy as those exposed in vivo to the chemical. Unlike in vivo response, however, the in vitro NRU was first influenced by very low concentration of the chemical. In in vitro results, marked but not significant increase of hemocyte NRU was noticed at the chemical concentration of 5 ng/g, where the value was almost as high as those exposed to higher chemical concentrations, up to 10,000 ng/g. An unusual result was observed in the in vitro lysozyme activity of hemocyte in which significant decrease was first noticed at the chemical concentration of 100 ng/g.