Inter-annual changes in fish communities of a tropical bay in southeastern Brazil: What can be inferred from anthropogenic activities?

We assessed inter-annual changes in fish assemblages of a tropical bay which experienced a heavily industrialized process in the last decades. A highly significant difference in community structure among the bay zones, and a decrease in fish richness and abundance over time were found. Changes in fish richness and abundance between the two first (1987-1988 and 1993-1995) and the two latter time periods (1998-2001 and 2012-2013) were sharpest in the inner bay zone, the most impacted bay area, and in the middle zone, whereas the outer zone remained comparatively stable over time. These changes coincided with increased metal pollution (mainly, Zn and Cd) in the bay and with the enlargement of the Sepetiba Port. Spatial changes in the fish community structure among the bay zones were related to differences in salinity, transparency and depth with this latter variable acting as a buffer stabilizing temporal community changes.

Glutathionyl hemoglobin is elevated in iron deficiency anemia

There are few good biomarkers of iron deficiency anemia (IDA). Since IDA patients have evidence for increased oxidative stress, we used mass spectrometry (MS) [i.e. matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) and electrospray ionization] to identify novel biomarkers. Using MALDI-MS, the following oxidative modifications of hemoglobin with the following mass-to-charge ratios were identified: 1,087.5 (α32-40), 1,545.7 (α17-31), 1,290.0 (β31-40) and 2,076.1 (β41-59). On electrospray ionization MS, the IDA patients had significantly elevated glutathionyl hemoglobin (GSHb) compared with the controls (16.9 ± 9.6 vs. 7.7 ± 3.7%; p = 0.002). GSHb levels correlated inversely with serum ferritin (Spearman rho -0.485; p = 0.003) and positively with serum transferrin receptor (0.460; p = 0.002). GSHb also demonstrated inverse correlations with hemoglobin (-0.512; p = 0.001), mean cell volume (-0.419; p = 0.026), serum iron (-0.446; p = 0.008) and transferrin saturation (-0.460; p = 0.008). For the first time, we show that GSHb is elevated in patients with IDA and has potential as a biomarker of this form of anemia.