Evaluation of Enzymatic Activities in Liver of Three Teleostean Fishes Exposed to Commercial Herbicide, Almix 20 WP

Activities of three enzymes in liver viz., aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in three Indian teleosts, Anabas testudineus,Heteropneustes fossilis, and Oreochromis niloticus exposed to a dose of 66.67 mg/l Almix 20 WP herbicide for a period of 30 days are reported here. The study revealed that the total protein content in liver was reduced significantly (p < 0.05) in H. fossilis (Mean ± SEM, 63.82 ± 4.33 to 34.50 ± 0.83 mg/g) but minimum in A. testudineus (53.29 ± 3.33 to 42.11 ± 1.83 mg/g). AST and ALT activities were significantly (p < 0.05) increased and highest in O. niloticus (154.99 ± 2.51 to 716.99 ± 4.09 and 97.67 ± 1.22 to 144.64 ± 6.84 unit/mg protein respectively), while minimum activity was noted in H. fossilis (88.44 ± 1.97 to 147.55 ± 2.72 unit/mg protein) and A. testudineus (87.51 ± 2.98 to 129.31 ± 2.87 unit/mg protein) respectively. ALP activity showed significant (p < 0.05) increment in H. fossilis (12.66 ± 1.26 to 18.24 ± 1.05 unit/mg protein), while less in O. niloticus (31.68 ± 1.41 to 38.01 ± 0.93 unit/mg protein) and moderate in A. testudineus. Enhanced levels of both aminotranferases and ALP indicated that liver was damaged excessively by almix exposure. The results also disclosed that O. niloticus was more sensitive than other two fishes and from these alterations it can be inferred that hepatic AST, ALT and ALP activity could be a diagnostic tool and considered as the indicators of herbicide toxicity in an aquatic environment.