Effects of perfluorooctanoic acid on neural genes expression and neuronal morphology in the planarian Dugesia japonica

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is an emerging persistent organic pollutant that is considered as a neurotoxicant in animal studies. However, these neurotoxicological studies did not evaluate potential neural deficits in aquatic animals associated from PFOA exposure. In this study, the effects of PFOA on neural genes expression and neuronal morphology in the planarian Dugesia japonica have been investigated. The results show that PFOA exposure results in neural-related genes expression alteration and neuronal morphology defects in planarians. These results suggest that the planarian D. japonica is a good bioindicator for the detection and evaluation of PFOA effects on freshwater invertebrates. The basal phylogenetic position of planarians makes them a good indicator species that can predict toxicity for higher taxa, providing information for the overall ecological toxicity of PFOA in aquatic environment.