Aquatic Toxicology 130–131 (2013) 219–230 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Aquatic Toxicology jou rn al h om epa ge: www.elsevier.com/locate/aquatox Changes in morphometry and association between whole-body fatty acids and steroid hormone profiles in relation to bioaccumulation patterns in salmon larvae exposed to perfluorooctane sulfonic or perfluorooctane carboxylic acids Augustine Arukwe a,∗ , Maria V. Cangialosi a,b , Robert J. Letcher c , Eduardo Rocha d,e , Anne S. Mortensen a a Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7491 Trondheim, Norway b Department of Food and Environmental Science “Prof. G. Stagno d’Alcontres”, University of Messina, Salita Sperone 31, 98166, S. Agata, Messina, Italy c Ecotoxicology and Wildlife Health Division, National Wildlife Research Centre, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1A 0H3, Canada d Interdisciplinary Centre for Marine and Environmental Research – CIIMAR, CIMAR LA, University of Porto, Portugal e Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar – ICBAS, University of Porto – University of Porto, Portugal a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 8 August 2012 Received in revised form 8 December 2012 Accepted 21 December 2012 Keywords: Atlantic salmon PFCs Bioaccumulation Fatty acids Larvae Steroid hormones Morphometry a b s t r a c t In the present study, we have used salmon embryos whose continuous exposure to waterborne PFOA or PFOS at 100 g/L started as freshly fertilized eggs, and lasted for a total of 52 days. PFOS and PFOA were dissolved in methanol (carrier vehicle) whose concentration never exceeded 0.01% of total tank volume. Samples were collected at day 21, 28, 35, 52, 49 and 56 after the start of the exposure. Note that days 49 and 56 represent end of exposure and 1 week after a recovery period, respectively. Tissue bioaccumulations were determined by HPLC/MS/MS, steroid hormones, fatty acids (FAs) and lipids were determined by GC–MS, while mRNA expression levels of genes were determined by qPCR in whole body homogenate. We observed that PFOS and PFOA showed a steady increase in whole body burden during the exposure period, with a slight decrease after the recovery period. Calculated somatic indexes showed that PFOA produced increases in heart-, thymus-, liver- and kidney somatic indexes (HSI, TSI, LSI and KSI). PFOA and PFOS exposure produced significant decreases in whole body dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), estrone and testosterone at sampling day 21 and a strong increase of cortisol and cholesterol at the end of recovery period (day 56). PFOA and PFOS effects differed with DHEA and estrone. While PFOS decreased DHEA levels, PFOA produced an increase at day 49, and while PFOS decreased estrone, PFOA produced a slight increase at day 56. We observed changes in FA composition that predominantly involved increases in FA methyl esters (FAMEs), mono- and poly-unsaturated FA (MUFA and PUFA) and a decrease in n-3/n-6 PUFA ratio by both PFOA and PFOS. Particularly, an increase in – pentadecenoic MUFA (15:1), two n-3 PUFAs -linolenic acid [ALA: 18:3 n3] and eicosapentaenoic acid [EPA: 20:5 n-3] and n-6 PUFA: arachidonic acid [ARA: 20:4 n6], docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) by PFOA and PFOS were observed. These effects were associated with changes in mRNA expression of FA elongase (FAE), 5-desaturase (FAD5) and 6-desaturase (FAD6) genes. In summary, the changes in hormonal and FA profiles may represent cellular and/or physiological adaptation to continuous PFOS and PFOA exposure by increasing membrane fluidity, and/or overt developmental effects. The present findings provide some potential insights and basis for a better understanding on the possible mechanisms of PFCs toxicity in fish. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) and their precursors are used in various industrial and consumer products such as oil and water repellents for textiles and food packaging, surfactants, insecticides, and aqueous fire-fighting foams, and have been manufactured for ∗ Corresponding author at: Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Sci- ence and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway. Tel.: +47 73596265; fax: +47 73596100. E-mail address: arukwe@bio.ntnu.no (A. Arukwe). over 50 years (Moody et al., 2002; Prevedouros et al., 2006). For example, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sul- fonate (PFOS) does not have natural sources, but have been widely used since World War II with environmental persistency (3M, 1999; Olsen et al., 2005). In Norway, PFOS and PFOA has been shown to occur widely in freshwater systems, although their water con- centrations are lower compared to other industrialized nations (Fjeld et al., 2005). Despite the production and use of PFAAs for the past 60 years, concerns have accumulated regarding their envi- ronmental hazards, together with human and wildlife exposures (Kannan et al., 2002, 2004; Butenhoff et al., 2006; Houde et al., 2006; Kärrman et al., 2006; Calafat et al., 2007; Fromme et al., 2007). 0166-445X/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aquatox.2012.12.026