Toxicity of environmental chemicals in gastropods' hemocytes: Trends and insights based on investigations using Biomphalaria spp

Gastropods have gotten increasing attention due to their use as model organisms to assess the environmental impact of traditional and emerging pollutants. However, the toxicity of environmental chemicals in gastropod hemocytes remains largely unexplored. Thus, the current review aimed to summarize and critically assess scientific research on the toxicity of environmental chemicals in the hemocytes of freshwater snails Biomphalaria spp. Data concerning the historical and geographic distribution, research field, species, exposure conditions, applied methodology, environmental chemical types, and effects on hemocytes were summarized and discussed. Studies were mainly conducted with plant-based compounds and pesticides, as well as with pharmaceuticals, nanomaterials and effluents. The adopted methodologies were Giemsa staining, hemocytometer, and comet assay. Environmental chemicals can have several effects on Biomphalaria spp. immune system, such as morphological changes, increased pseudopodia, phagocytosis, oxidative stress, nuclear abnormalities, vacuoles, DNA damage and apoptosis. Thus, Biomphalaria hemocytes are suitable cell targets to assess the toxicity of traditional and emerging pollutants in aquatic environments. [Display omitted] •State-of-the-art review on the effects of chemicals on Biomphalaria spp.•Chemicals induce cytotoxicity, mutagenicity, and genotoxicity in hemocytes.•Biomphalaria as a model to assess immunotoxicity induced by aquatic pollutants.•Multiple biomarkers in Biomphalaria hemocytes to assess the pollution.