- Academic Editor
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Background: Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) have garnered
significant attention due to their potential impacts on ecology, wildlife, and
human health. The interest in these contaminants arises from their inadequate
regulation or lack of routine monitoring in natural environments. Among them,
per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are of particular concern due to their
notable propensity to accumulate within the kidney, significantly influencing the
excretion of these pollutants. Rodlet cells (RCs) have emerged as promising
indicators of immunotoxicity in response to chemical stressors. A prior
comprehensive study extensively detailed the effects of sub-chronic exposure to
perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a well-known PFAS compound, on RCs located in the
hematopoietic tissue of the common carp kidney. Even at concentrations commonly
found in the environment, PFOA exhibited a significant impact on the distribution
patterns of RCs, concurrently enhancing exocytosis activity. Methods:
The assessment of PFOA-induced RC degranulation employed texture analysis
combined with linear discriminant analysis (LDA) to differentiate between various
experimental exposure groups. The investigation encompassed three fish groups: an
unexposed group, a group exposed to an environmentally relevant PFOA
concentration (200 ng L