Mercury induced haemocyte alterations in the terrestrial snail Cantareus apertus as novel biomarker

The aim of the present work was to study the response of a suite of cellular and biochemical markers in the terrestrial snail Cantareus apertus exposed to mercury in view of future use as sensitive tool suitable for mercury polluted soil monitoring and assessment. Besides standardized biomarkers (metallothionein, acetylcholinesterase, and lysosomal membrane stability) novel cellular biomarkers on haemolymph cells were analyzed, including changes in the spread cells/round cells ratio and haemocyte morphometric alterations. The animals were exposed for 14 days to Lactuca sativa soaked for 1h in HgCl2 solutions (0.5 e 1 μM). The temporal dynamics of the responses were assessed by measurements at 3, 7 and 14 days. Following exposure to HgCl2 a significant alteration in the relative frequencies of round cells and spread cells was evident, with a time and dose-dependent increase of the frequencies of round cells with respect to spread cells. These changes were accompanied by cellular morphometric alterations. Concomitantly, a high correspondence between these cellular responses and metallothionein tissutal concentration, lysosomal membrane stability and inhibition of AChE was evident. The study highlights the usefulness of the terrestrial snail C. apertus as bioindicator organism for mercury pollution biomonitoring and, in particular, the use of haemocyte alterations as a suitable biomarker of pollutant effect to be included in a multibiomarker strategy.