applied sciences Article Oxidative Stress Biomarkers in Erythrocytes of Captive Pre-Juvenile Loggerhead Turtles Following Acute Exposure to Methylmercury Javier Hernández-Fernández 1,2,*, Ellie Anne López-Barrera 3 , Leonardo Mariño-Ramírez 4, Pilar Rodríguez-Becerra 1 and Andrés Pinzón-Velasco 5 1 Department of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Genetics, Molecular Biology and Bioinformatic Research Group—GENBIMOL, Jorge Tadeo Lozano University, Cra. 4 No 22-61, Bogotá 110311, Colombia;
[email protected] 2 Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Calle 45, Cra. 7, Bogotá 110231, Colombia 3 Sergio Arboleda University, Institute of Environmental Studies and Services, IDEASA Research Group—IDEASA, Bogotá 111711, Colombia;
[email protected] 4 NCBI, NLM, NIH Computational Biology Branch, Building 38A, Room 6S614M 8600 Rockville Pike, MSC 6075 Bethesda, MD 20894-6075, USA;
[email protected] 5 Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Group, National University of Colombia, Calle 45 Cra. 30, Bogotá 111321, Colombia;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 21 April 2020; Accepted: 19 May 2020; Published: 22 May 2020 Abstract: This study describes the use of erythrocytes (RBCs) of loggerhead turtles as in vitro models for evaluating their toxicity to methylmercury. Blood samples of loggerhead turtles that were born in the Colombian Caribbean were used. The LC50 of RBCs to methylmercury was determined at 1 96 h using methylmercury concentrations of 0.5–100 mg L− . Next, the viability of the RBCs and the activity of the enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione S-transferase (GST), and lipid peroxidation by malondialdehyde (MDA) at 6 and 12 h of exposure to acute concentrations of 0, 1 1 1, and 5 mg L− were evaluated.