Back to project Joint effects of ... (D. Drobne)
 

The thickness of digestive gland epithelium as a biomarker of stress in terrestrial isopod Porcellio scaber

       

Drobne, D*, Drobne, S+, Lakner M+ , Štrus, J*, Vilhar, B*
*Dept. Biology, Biotechnical faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, SLOVENIA.
 + Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, SLOVENIA.

E-mail to Damjana Drobne: damjana.drobne@uni-lj.si

 

Previous observations of digestive glands

  • Variability of histological parameters 

  • Pronounced changes of histological parameters after exposure the animals to stress (= chemical dosed food)

Aim of our work

Can histological parameters of digestive gland epithelium be used as a tissue level biomarker of stress?

Questions

  1. How to quantify histological parameters?

 
  • toxicity testing protocol with Porcellio scaber / food exposure
  • serial histological sections of hepatopancreas; we modified standard histological procedures to increase reproducubility
  • measurements with image analysis
  1. What to quantify?

   

  • Evaluatinon of the thickness of epithelium (measurement based on cross section outline).
  • Evaluatinon of the amount of lipid droplets (measurement based on staining intensity).

Conclusions

  • Image analysis tools allow for quantification of various histological parameters in the digestive gland epithelium.

  • The most pronounced differences between control and stressed animals were observed in epithelial thickness and the amount of lipids

Future work

  • We are presently compiling the data obtained from experiments with metal (Cd, Zn, Hg) and pesticide Diazinon dosed food.

  • We developed software tools to align, analyse and reconstruct a three-dimensional model of the gland on the basis of serial sections.

Links

Back to project Joint effects of ... (D. Drobne)

 Last updated: 10.08.2003