Fish toxicity picked up by Coenzyme Q test

[depakid]

Source: ABC



Australian scientists have developed a new way of testing for pollutants in fish using Coenzyme Q, a chemical also used as an antioxidant in cosmetics and health supplements. Biochemist Dr Walt Dunlap, of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, and colleagues, report their findings this week in Biology Letters. "It is the same coenzyme Q that is marketed as a health supplement and used in cosmetics," says Dunlap.

Chemical contamination of fish can be hard to pick up unless it actually kills the fish. In order to pick up low-level contamination, that can cause sub-lethal effects, scientists look to bio-indicators - biochemical markers in the animal that indicate something is wrong.

...Dunlap and colleagues have developed a test that measures a different biological process involving Coenzyme Q. This chemical, involved in transporting electrons during aerobic respiration and has two forms: an oxidised form and a reduced form. The reduced form is a powerful antioxidant, which protects against oxidative stress caused by pollutants.

When a pollutant is present, an enzyme is activated that converts the oxidised form to the reduced form, measurably changing what is called the Coenzyme Q redox balance. Because the test measures the products of a detoxification enzyme's activity, rather than the enzyme directly, it is not vulnerable to extra factors that can affect enzyme levels, says Dunlap. He says the Coenzyme Q redox balance is also used to measure oxidative stress in humans.

Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/08/25/2992148.htm?site=science&topic=enviro

[crim son]

1. This cynic predicts

it will prove too costly to test fish here in the U.S. Besides, a little heavy metal never hurt anybody, right?

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. K and Rrrrrrrrrrrd. n/t

[Hekate]

3. KnR 5th rec

[KT2000]

4. Now we are getting somewhere

this test needs to become a part of the annual checkup for humans!

[defendandprotect]

5. k