Molecular and cellular biomarker responses to pesticide exposure in juvenile chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)

We determined the effects of two pesticides, chlorpyrifos and esfenvalerate in juvenile Chinook salmon. Four to five month old salmon were exposed to a range of pesticide concentrations, and tissue samples of surviving fish were analyzed for stress protein expression, cytokine transcription, and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity. At the highest concentrations, both pesticides led to complete mortality, whereas medium and low concentrations resulted in high survival rates. Significant differences in stress protein expression, cytokine transcription and AChE activity were found between control and surviving chlorpyrifos-exposed fish. Elevated stress protein expression was the only detectable response to esfenvalerate.