MINI REVIEW article
Front. Physiol.
Sec. Aquatic Physiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1609555
This article is part of the Research TopicNutritional Metabolism and Immunity of Aquatic AnimalsView all 10 articles
The Biological Relevance of Potentially Toxic Metals in Freshwater Fish
Provisionally accepted
- Slovak University of Agriculture, Nitra, Slovakia
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Trace elements are essential for a number of physiological functions including oxygen transfer, enzymatic reactions and antioxidant protection of the animal organism. Elevated concentrations outside the physiological optimum, on the other hand, can cause undesirable health complications, disrupt metabolic pathways, reproductive capacity, or oxidative balance. The negative anthropogenic impacts on the environment are alarming and the impacts on the aquatic environment have been increasing disproportionately in recent years. Against this background, all potential threats to biota need to be explained and better understood, the possible risks need to be better informed and understood, and a balance needs to be struck between the fundamental nature and the harmful effects of these metals. This mini-review examines the roles of potentially toxic metals including cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo) and zinc (Zn) in fish physiology. This document also elucidates the mechanisms underlying the assessment of regulatory processes, the potential negative consequences of overexposure, the interactions of these metals on fish health, and in the environmental context.
Keywords: Trace Elements, Potential toxicity, Health, Ecotoxicology, fish, biomarker
Received: 14 Apr 2025; Accepted: 02 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kovacik, Helczman, Tomka, Jambor, Kovacikova and Arvay. 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: Anton Kovacik, Slovak University of Agriculture, Nitra, Slovakia
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