Abstract
Purpose: The main goal of this study was to analyze the long-term effects of static (SMF) and extremely low-frequency magnetic field (ELF MF) on nymphal gut mass and antioxidant biomarkers in this tissue of cockroach Blaptica dubia.
Materials and methods: One-month-old nymphs were exposed to magnetic field (MF) for 5 months in three experimental groups: control, exposure to SMF (110 mT) and exposure to ELF MF (50 Hz, 10 mT).
Results: The gut masses of the MF groups were significantly lower when compared to control. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities were markedly higher than for the control and the differences between the MF groups were statistically significant only for SOD. The applied MF had no effect on total glutathione (GSH) content. Glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) activities were significantly lower in both MF groups in comparison to the control. There was a significant difference between MF groups for GR activity. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed that CAT and GST were the main factors contributing to the differentiation of the control group from the treated experimental groups along PCA 1, and SOD and GR along PCA 2. PCA revealed clear separation between experimental groups depends on antioxidant biomarker response.
Conclusion: The applied magnetic fields could be considered a potential stressor influencing gut mass, as well as examined antioxidative biomarkers.
Acknowledgements
The authors are very grateful to Dr. Marko Prokić and Tamara Petrović for help and statistical analyses.
Disclosure statement
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.
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Notes on contributors
Dajana Todorović
Dajana Todorović is a PhD in Biology. Her main research topics are in the fields of magnetobiology, and insect physiology and biochemistry. She focuses on studying biological effects of various physical and chemical stressors (magnetic field, temperature, heavy metals, organic pollutants...) on different insect species.
Larisa Ilijin
Larisa Ilijin is a PhD in Biology. Her research field is ecology and physiology of insects. Major research interest is insect responses to different acute and chronic environmental stressors and the adaptation of insects to environmental changes.
Marija Mrdaković
Marija Mrdaković is a PhD in Biology. Her research is focused on the effects of various environmental stressors on insect physiology and biochemistry, as well as on the adaptations of insects to environmental changes.
Milena Vlahović
Milena Vlahović is a Senior Research Associate whose research focus includes different kinds of environmental stressors, studying insects as bioindicators, monitoring their influence on insect physiology and biochemistry, as well as the development of new biomarkers.
Aleksandra Filipović
Aleksandra Filipović is a Research Assistant at the Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”. Her research focuses on the effects of organic pollutants and other environmental stressors on different insect species.
Anja Grčić
Anja Grčić is PhD student and working as a research assistantat at the Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”. Focus of the doctoral research is on studying specific and unspecific stress responses of Lymantria dispar after long term exposure to persistent organic pollutant benzo[a]pyrene.
Vesna Perić-Mataruga
VesnaPerić-Mataruga is a PhD in Biology (insect's physiology) and head of Department of Insect Physiology and Biochemistry. Her research interest is focused to stress responses and physiological adaptations of the insects to environmental changes.