Toxicological impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the health of the neotropical fish, Poecilia reticulata.
Guilherme Malafaia, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim Ahmed, Sindoval Silva de Souza, Fernanda Neves Estrela Rezende, Ítalo Nascimento Freitas, Thiarlen Marinho da Luz, Abner Marcelino da Silva, Ives Charlie-Silva, Helyson Lucas Bezerra Braz, Roberta Jeane Bezerra Jorge, Paulo R S Sanches, Juliana Moreira Mendonça-Gomes, Eduardo M Cilli, Amanda Pereira da Costa Araújo
Author Information
Guilherme Malafaia: Biological Research Laboratory, Post-Graduation Program in Conservation of Cerrado Natural Resources, Goiano Federal Institute, Urutaí Campus, Rodovia Geraldo Silva Nascimento, 2,5km, Zona Rural CEP, Urutaí, GO 75790-000, Brazil; Post-Graduation Program in Biotechnology and Biodiversity, Goiano Federal Institution and Federal University of Goiás, GO, Brazil; Post-Graduation Program in Ecology and Conservation of Natural Resources, Federal University of Uberlândia, Uberlândia MG, Brazil. Electronic address: guilhermeifgoiano@gmail.com.
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim Ahmed: Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University, Assiut 71526, Egypt.
Sindoval Silva de Souza: Biological Research Laboratory, Post-Graduation Program in Conservation of Cerrado Natural Resources, Goiano Federal Institute, Urutaí Campus, Rodovia Geraldo Silva Nascimento, 2,5km, Zona Rural CEP, Urutaí, GO 75790-000, Brazil.
Fernanda Neves Estrela Rezende: Post-Graduation Program in Biotechnology and Biodiversity, Goiano Federal Institution and Federal University of Goiás, GO, Brazil.
Ítalo Nascimento Freitas: Biological Research Laboratory, Post-Graduation Program in Conservation of Cerrado Natural Resources, Goiano Federal Institute, Urutaí Campus, Rodovia Geraldo Silva Nascimento, 2,5km, Zona Rural CEP, Urutaí, GO 75790-000, Brazil.
Thiarlen Marinho da Luz: Biological Research Laboratory, Post-Graduation Program in Conservation of Cerrado Natural Resources, Goiano Federal Institute, Urutaí Campus, Rodovia Geraldo Silva Nascimento, 2,5km, Zona Rural CEP, Urutaí, GO 75790-000, Brazil.
Abner Marcelino da Silva: Biological Research Laboratory, Post-Graduation Program in Conservation of Cerrado Natural Resources, Goiano Federal Institute, Urutaí Campus, Rodovia Geraldo Silva Nascimento, 2,5km, Zona Rural CEP, Urutaí, GO 75790-000, Brazil.
Ives Charlie-Silva: Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Helyson Lucas Bezerra Braz: Drug Research and Development Center, Federal University of Ceará, CE, Brazil; Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Federal University of Ceará, CE, Brazil.
Roberta Jeane Bezerra Jorge: Drug Research and Development Center, Federal University of Ceará, CE, Brazil; Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Federal University of Ceará, CE, Brazil.
Paulo R S Sanches: Instituto de Química, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Araraquara, SP, Brazil.
Juliana Moreira Mendonça-Gomes: Departamento de Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo; São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Eduardo M Cilli: Instituto de Química, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Araraquara, SP, Brazil.
Amanda Pereira da Costa Araújo: Post-Graduation Programa in Environmental Sciences, Federal University of Goiás, GO, Brazil.
There have been significant impacts of the current COVID-19 pandemic on society including high health and economic costs. However, little is known about the potential ecological risks of this virus despite its presence in freshwater systems. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the exposure of Poecilia reticulata juveniles to two peptides derived from Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, which was synthesized in the laboratory (named PSPD-2002 and PSPD-2003). For this, the animals were exposed for 35 days to the peptides at a concentration of 40 µg/L and different toxicity biomarkers were assessed. Our data indicated that the peptides were able to induce anxiety-like behavior in the open field test and increased acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity. The biometric evaluation also revealed that the animals exposed to the peptides displayed alterations in the pattern of growth/development. Furthermore, the increased activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) enzymes were accompanied by increased levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and hydrogen peroxide (HO), which suggests a redox imbalance induced by SARS-CoV-2 spike protein peptides. Moreover, molecular docking analysis suggested a strong interaction of the peptides with the enzymes AChE, SOD and CAT, allowing us to infer that the observed effects are related to the direct action of the peptides on the functionality of these enzymes. Consequently, our study provided evidence that the presence of SARS-CoV-2 viral particles in the freshwater ecosystems offer a health risk to fish and other aquatic organisms.
