Storage and detoxification of marine pollutants by the cephalopod digestive gland

The importance of cephalopods for fisheries and even aquaculture is prompting questions about how these mollusks are affected by environmental stressors like pollution and climate change. However, compared to other molluscs, particularly bivalves, which serve as frontline models in aquatic toxicology, these animals' responses to environmental toxins, are significantly less well studied. Cephalopods have a similar fundamental body structure, but because they are active predators with rapid growth and metabolic rates, they have diverse adaptations, sometimes unique. The majority of research on the digestive gland, which is similar to the liver in vertebrates, concentrated on metal bioaccumulation and its relationship to environmental concentrations, with evidence that certain cellular structures (such spherulae) and proteins were involved. Although there is debate regarding how phase I and phase II detoxification enzymes work in molluscs, There is proof of CYP-mediated bio-activation, albeit at a lesser level than in vertebrates, but further research is still needed on this topic. The discovery of genes and proteins that are important for toxicology, such as metallothioneins, heat shock proteins, and phase II conjugation enzymes, underscores the necessity of increased genomic annotation as a prerequisite to comprehend toxicant-specific pathways. Although some evidence from biomarker techniques, notably those related to oxidative stress, suggests that these molluscs' digestive glands are certainly susceptible to chemical aggressiveness, little is known about how organic toxicants are stored, metabolised, and removed. Additionally, it is difficult to determine the causes of pollution and its toxicopathic effects, which makes it difficult to use these organisms for bio-monitoring or, at the very least, to understand how they are impacted by anthropogenically induced climate change.