Dose specific responses of Anabas testudineus (Bloch) to anthracene (PAH): Haematological and biochemical manifestation

Abstract

Present work compared the toxicological responses of A. testudineus (Bloch) to anthracene exposure after treatment with two concentrations i.e., 25% (0.0075 mg/l) and 50% (0.015 mg/l) of LC50 value (0.030 mg/l) for different exposure periods of 1, 5, 10, 15 and 21 day(s). An intensive comparison of the effects was made based on haematological and biochemical parameters of blood. Haematological responses revealed significant increase in some blood parameters, viz., WBC, %LYM, MCV, MCH and MCHC but RBC, Hb, PCV and PLT showed decreasing trends. Biochemical responses like CHOLES, PRO, ALB, Trig showed enhanced pattern in the initial exposure of day one then reduced gradually but GLU, GPT, Ca, ALP, HDL, and LDL showed reverse pattern. Additionally, integrated biomarker responses (IBR) indicated that the biochemical parameters are more useful in determining the anthracene stress on fish health than the haematological parameters. Overall findings of this study suggested that the IBR analysis is a useful tool in monitoring quantitative (dose-specific) as well as qualitative (exposure-specific) responses to toxicological effects of anthracene exposure on fish health. Keywords: Anthracene, Haematological and biochemical parameters, IBR