Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are environmental organic pollutants that are ubiquitous in the ocean, and di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is the most widely used PAE. The environmental concentration of DEHP was reported to be up to 42.52 μg/L in seawater in the estuaries located in Jiaozhou Bay along the Yellow Sea. DEHP has been investigated with respect to its toxicity in marine organisms. However, evidence on the dose-dependent effects of DEHP remains contradictory and limited. We used marine mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis as the experimental animal to study the dose-dependent effects of various levels of exposure to DEHP (concentrations of 4, 12, 36, 108, and 324 μg/L). These effects and the underlying mechanisms were elucidated by the levels of antioxidant enzyme activity, gene expression, and metabolite. The results indicated that at environmentally relevant concentrations (12 and 36 µg/L), DEHP induced significant hormetic effects. This was indicated by the U-shaped or inverted U-shaped responses of the gene expression levels related to stress response (CAT, GST, and MgGLYZ) and antioxidant enzyme activities (SOD and CAT). The metabolic profiles revealed that DEHP generally caused monophasic response in osmotic regulation (homarine) and biphasic response (hormesis) in energy metabolism (glucose, glycogen, and amino acids), respectively. These findings can aid in ecological risk assessment with respect to DEHP and the determination of hormetic dose responses.

中文翻译：

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邻苯二甲酸二（2-乙基己基）酯（DEHP）在贻贝贻贝中的剂量依赖性效应

邻苯二甲酸酯（PAE）是海洋中普遍存在的环境有机污染物，邻苯二甲酸二（2-乙基己基）酯（DEHP）是使用最广泛的PAE。据报道，位于黄海胶州湾河口的海水中，DEHP的环境浓度高达42.52μg/ L。已经对DEHP在海洋生物中的毒性进行了研究。然而，关于DEHP的剂量依赖性作用的证据仍然是矛盾和有限的。我们以海洋贻贝Mytilus galloprovincialis为实验动物，研究了不同水平的DEHP暴露（浓度分别为4、12、36、108和324μg/ L）的剂量依赖性效应。通过抗氧化酶活性，基因表达和代谢产物的水平阐明了这些作用和潜在的机制。结果表明，在与环境有关的浓度（12和36 µg / L）下，DEHP会引起明显的致敏作用。这由与应激反应（CAT，GST和MgGLYZ）和抗氧化酶活性（SOD和CAT）有关的基因表达水平的U形或倒U形响应表示。代谢图谱表明，DEHP通常分别在能量调节（葡萄糖，糖原和氨基酸）中分别引起渗透调节（激素）的单相反应和双相反应（激素作用）。这些发现可以帮助进行有关DEHP的生态风险评估以及确定激素剂量反应。这由与应激反应（CAT，GST和MgGLYZ）和抗氧化酶活性（SOD和CAT）有关的基因表达水平的U形或倒U形响应表示。代谢图谱表明，DEHP通常分别在能量调节（葡萄糖，糖原和氨基酸）中分别引起渗透调节（激素）的单相反应和双相反应（激素作用）。这些发现可以帮助进行有关DEHP的生态风险评估以及确定激素剂量反应。这由与应激反应（CAT，GST和MgGLYZ）和抗氧化酶活性（SOD和CAT）有关的基因表达水平的U形或倒U形响应表示。代谢图谱表明，DEHP通常分别在能量调节（葡萄糖，糖原和氨基酸）中分别引起渗透调节（激素）的单相反应和双相反应（激素作用）。这些发现可以帮助进行有关DEHP的生态风险评估以及确定激素剂量反应。