BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Toxicology, Pollution and the Environment
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1622837
Plasma Vitellogenin Detection in Males of the African Sharptooth Catfish, Clarias gariepinus, from Ikpoba and Osse Rivers, Southern Nigeria: A Brief Research Report
Provisionally accepted
Maurice E. Imiuwa*
Lauretta OghenevurieEneyeme J OlowojobaDuncan O OnojeharoNora AdiborEse J EmmanuelNancy E UgorjiSydney E Osifo- University of Benin, Benin, Nigeria
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The impact of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) on humans and wildlife ranks amongst the most insidious of environmental health concerns. Sadly, the paucity of scientific data on environmental presence of EDCs in developing countries, especially those of Africa, has recently been described as a major setback to understanding their region-specific impact and management focus. Induction of plasma vitellogenin (Vtg) in male oviparous fish has been employed across the globe as a biomarker of exposure to estrogenic EDCs. However, despite initial laboratory validation of the suitability of males of Clarias gariepinus (which has almost a Pan-African distribution) for understanding exposure to EDCs using plasma Vtg induction, plasma Vtg has not been detected in wild male C. gariepinus inhabiting EDC-polluted environment, even with a species-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and its suitability for biomonitoring EDCs in African freshwater environments remains to be demonstrated. In the present study, adult male C. gariepinus samples were collected from two major urban catchment-impacted rivers, and analysed for endocrine-related gonadal histopathology and plasma Vtg (using a sensitive commercially available non-species-specific fish Vtg ELISA). Plasma Vtg was detected in male C. gariepinus from all sampling sites, while the gonads had normal (histo)morphology. The findings, contrasting previous reports, strongly suggest that wild males of this species are suitable for biomonitoring EDCs in African freshwater environments. Furthermore, the development of a commercially available Vtg ELISA specifically for this species (with detection limit and sensitivity comparable to the one used in the present study), might be worth considering.
Keywords: Developing Countries, Environmental Pollution, endocrine disrupting chemicals, fish, biomonitoring
Received: 04 May 2025; Accepted: 09 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Imiuwa, Oghenevurie, Olowojoba, Onojeharo, Adibor, Emmanuel, Ugorji and Osifo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Maurice E. Imiuwa, University of Benin, Benin, Nigeria
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