Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Environmental Health Perspectives logoLink to Environmental Health Perspectives
. 1998 Apr;106(4):179–183. doi: 10.1289/ehp.98106179

Neoplastic and nonneoplastic hepatic changes in lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) from the St. Lawrence River, Quebec, Canada.

I Mikaelian 1, Y de Lafontaine 1, C Menard 1, P Tellier 1, J Harshbarger 1, D Martineau 1
PMCID: PMC1532961  PMID: 9485481

Abstract

As part of a survey of fish diseases, lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) were collected in fall 1995 from the St. Lawrence River 15 km upstream of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, to assess the prevalence of liver lesions. A total of 141 fish were captured and necropsied, and three standard sections of liver were taken for histological examination. Prevalences of altered hepatocyte foci, hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangioma, and cholangiocarcinoma were 0.7%, 2.1%, 0.7%, and 2.1%, respectively. Thus, the overall prevalence of liver neoplasia was 4.9% (7/141). Hepatic tumors were only observed in fish 7 years old or older. Fish age was significantly and positively correlated with the index assessing the number and size of macrophage aggregates (p<0.001; rs = 0.16). Hepatocyte vacuolation, anisokaryosis, lymphocytic infiltration, and bile duct hyperplasia were also observed but were not related to the age, length, sex, or condition factor of the fish. These results represent the first report on a series of hepatic tumors in a wild salmonid species.

Full text

PDF
179

Images in this article

180Figure 1
on p.180
181Figure 2
on p.181
181Figure 3
on p.181
181Figure 4
on p.181
182Figure 5
on p.182

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bailey G. S., Williams D. E., Hendricks J. D. Fish models for environmental carcinogenesis: the rainbow trout. Environ Health Perspect. 1996 Mar;104 (Suppl 1):5–21. doi: 10.1289/ehp.96104s15. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Baumann P. C., Harshbarger J. C., Hartman K. J. Relationship between liver tumors and age in brown bullhead populations from two Lake Erie tributaries. Sci Total Environ. 1990 May 1;94(1-2):71–87. doi: 10.1016/0048-9697(90)90365-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Black J. J., Baumann P. C. Carcinogens and cancers in freshwater fishes. Environ Health Perspect. 1991 Jan;90:27–33. doi: 10.1289/ehp.90-1519473. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Boorman G. A., Botts S., Bunton T. E., Fournie J. W., Harshbarger J. C., Hawkins W. E., Hinton D. E., Jokinen M. P., Okihiro M. S., Wolfe M. J. Diagnostic criteria for degenerative, inflammatory, proliferative nonneoplastic and neoplastic liver lesions in medaka (Oryzias latipes): consensus of a National Toxicology Program Pathology Working Group. Toxicol Pathol. 1997 Mar-Apr;25(2):202–210. doi: 10.1177/019262339702500210. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Brown E. R., Hazdra J. J., Keith L., Greenspan I., Kwapinski J. B., Beamer P. Frequency of fish tumors found in a polluted watershed as compared to nonpolluted Canadian waters. Cancer Res. 1973 Feb;33(2):189–198. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Bunton T. E. Experimental chemical carcinogenesis in fish. Toxicol Pathol. 1996 Sep-Oct;24(5):603–618. doi: 10.1177/019262339602400511. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Carriaga M. T., Henson D. E. Liver, gallbladder, extrahepatic bile ducts, and pancreas. Cancer. 1995 Jan 1;75(1 Suppl):171–190. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19950101)75:1+<171::aid-cncr2820751306>3.0.co;2-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Collier T. K., Singh S. V., Awasthi Y. C., Varanasi U. Hepatic xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes in two species of benthic fish showing different prevalences of contaminant-associated liver neoplasms. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 1992 Apr;113(2):319–324. doi: 10.1016/0041-008x(92)90131-b. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. DAWE C. J., STANTON M. F., SCHWARTZ F. J. HEPATIC NEOPLASMS IN NATIVE BOTTOM-FEEDING FISH OF DEEP CREEK LAKE, MARYLAND. Cancer Res. 1964 Aug;24:1194–1201. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Duflot A., Mehrotra R., Yu S. Z., Barraud L., Trepo C., Cova L. Spectrum of liver disease and duck hepatitis B virus infection in a large series of Chinese ducks with hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatology. 1995 Jun;21(6):1483–1491. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Fox J. G., Li X., Yan L., Cahill R. J., Hurley R., Lewis R., Murphy J. C. Chronic proliferative hepatitis in A/JCr mice associated with persistent Helicobacter hepaticus infection: a model of helicobacter-induced carcinogenesis. Infect Immun. 1996 May;64(5):1548–1558. doi: 10.1128/iai.64.5.1548-1558.1996. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Gentile J. M., Gentile G. J. Implications for the involvement of the immune system in parasite-associated cancers. Mutat Res. 1994 Mar 1;305(2):315–320. doi: 10.1016/0027-5107(94)90251-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Grieco M. P., Hendricks J. D., Scanlan R. A., Sinnhuber R. O., Pierce D. A. Carcinogenicity and acute toxicity of dimethylnitrosamine in rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri). J Natl Cancer Inst. 1978 May;60(5):1127–1131. doi: 10.1093/jnci/60.5.1127. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Harshbarger J. C., Clark J. B. Epizootiology of neoplasms in bony fish of North America. Sci Total Environ. 1990 May 1;94(1-2):1–32. doi: 10.1016/0048-9697(90)90362-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Haswell-Elkins M. R., Satarug S., Tsuda M., Mairiang E., Esumi H., Sithithaworn P., Mairiang P., Saitoh M., Yongvanit P., Elkins D. B. Liver fluke infection and cholangiocarcinoma: model of endogenous nitric oxide and extragastric nitrosation in human carcinogenesis. Mutat Res. 1994 Mar 1;305(2):241–252. doi: 10.1016/0027-5107(94)90244-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Hayes M. A., Smith I. R., Rushmore T. H., Crane T. L., Thorn C., Kocal T. E., Ferguson H. W. Pathogenesis of skin and liver neoplasms in white suckers from industrially polluted areas in Lake Ontario. Sci Total Environ. 1990 May 1;94(1-2):105–123. doi: 10.1016/0048-9697(90)90367-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Landahl J. T., McCain B. B., Myers M. S., Rhodes L. D., Brown D. W. Consistent associations between hepatic lesions in English sole (Parophrys vetulus) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in bottom sediment. Environ Health Perspect. 1990 Nov;89:195–203. doi: 10.1289/ehp.9089195. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Le Bail B., Bioulac-Sage P., Tran van Nhieu J., Zafrani E. S. Approche actuelle de la carcinogenèse hépatique. De la cirrhose au carcinome hépatocellulaire. Ann Pathol. 1995;15(5):332–347. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. McLeese D. W., Metcalfe C. D., Pezzack D. S. Uptake of PCBs from sediment by Nereis virens and Crangon septemspinosa. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 1980;9(5):507–518. doi: 10.1007/BF01056931. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Myers M. S., Rhodes L. D., McCain B. B. Pathologic anatomy and patterns of occurrence of hepatic neoplasms, putative preneoplastic lesions, and other idiopathic hepatic conditions in English sole (Parophrys vetulus) from Puget Sound, Washington. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1987 Feb;78(2):333–363. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Myers M. S., Stehr C. M., Olson O. P., Johnson L. L., McCain B. B., Chan S. L., Varanasi U. Relationships between toxicopathic hepatic lesions and exposure to chemical contaminants in English sole (Pleuronectes vetulus), starry flounder (Platichthys stellatus), and white croaker (Genyonemus lineatus) from selected marine sites on the Pacific Coast, USA. Environ Health Perspect. 1994 Feb;102(2):200–215. doi: 10.1289/ehp.94102200. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Pinkney A. E., Poje G. V., Sansur R. M., Lee C. C., O'Connor J. M. Uptake and retention of 14C-Aroclor 1254 in the amphipod, Gammarus tigrinus, fed contaminated fungus, Fusarium oxysporum. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 1985 Jan;14(1):59–64. doi: 10.1007/BF01055762. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Spitsbergen J. M., Wolfe M. J. The riddle of hepatic neoplasia in brown bullheads from relatively unpolluted waters in New York State. Toxicol Pathol. 1995 Nov-Dec;23(6):716–725. doi: 10.1177/019262339502300610. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Varanasi U., Stein J. E. Disposition of xenobiotic chemicals and metabolites in marine organisms. Environ Health Perspect. 1991 Jan;90:93–100. doi: 10.1289/ehp.90-1519508. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Wales J. H., Sinnhuber R. O., Hendricks J. D., Nixon J. E., Eisele T. A. Aflatoxin B1 induction of hepatocellular carcinoma in the embryos of rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri). J Natl Cancer Inst. 1978 May;60(5):1133–1139. doi: 10.1093/jnci/60.5.1133. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Ward J. M., Fox J. G., Anver M. R., Haines D. C., George C. V., Collins M. J., Jr, Gorelick P. L., Nagashima K., Gonda M. A., Gilden R. V. Chronic active hepatitis and associated liver tumors in mice caused by a persistent bacterial infection with a novel Helicobacter species. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1994 Aug 17;86(16):1222–1227. doi: 10.1093/jnci/86.16.1222. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Environmental Health Perspectives are provided here courtesy of National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

RESOURCES