Exposure to Common Pollutants Alters Normal Heart Function in Frog Larvae

Item

Title

Exposure to Common Pollutants Alters Normal Heart Function in Frog Larvae

Description

Developmental exposures to certain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), found in human cord blood and breast milk, affect normal cardiac function and morphology in fish models. Some of these abnormalities in cardiac function have also been observed in our lab in the early life of the African clawed frog Xenopus laevis. To determine whether longer-term exposures to lower doses of PAHs alter cardiac function, we examined the impact of fluoranthene (FLA) and phenanthrene (PHE) exposure on ventricular and atrial heart rate and on the incidence of AV block. AV block is a loss of electrical conduction from the atria to the ventricle. In X. laevis, increased incidence of AV block was observed and correlated with an increase in dose concentration. Increased AV block could cause increased workload of the atria in X. laevis and in humans possibly resulting in premature heart muscle degeneration.

Susan Whittemore

Contributor

Keene State College

Creator

Adam Harris

Date

2017-10-11

Identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12088/8071

Subject

Biology

Type

Presentation

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Item sets

AEC 2017 School of Sciences and Social Sciences

Site pages

School of Sciences and Social Sciences