This document summarizes a research study on the effects of the pesticides malathion and cypermethrin on biochemical constituents in the freshwater fish Lepidocephalichthys guntea. The study found that exposing the fish to sub-lethal concentrations of both pesticides for 96 hours resulted in significant decreases in glycogen, protein, and lipid levels compared to the control group. The decreases indicated that the pesticides affected the fish's metabolism and energy utilization. Both malathion and cypermethrin were shown to be highly toxic to L. guntea and cause harmful biochemical changes.

1. International Indexed & Referred Research Journal, April, 2012. ISSN- 0974-2832, RNI-RAJBIL 2009/29954; VoL. IV * ISSUE-39
Research Paper - Zoology
Effect of Malathion and Cypermethrin on Biochemical
Constituents of Freshwater Fish, Lepidocephalichthys
Guntea (Ham-buch)
* Patil, M. U. ** Dr. Patole, S. S. April , 2012
* Department of Zoology, Vimalai Uttamrao Patil College, Sakri.
** Associate professor, Department of Zoology, S. G. Patil, ASC College, Sakri. Dist- Dhule (M.S.).
A B S T R A C T
In the present study, the freshwater fish, Lepidocephalichthys guntea was exposed to sub-lethal concentrations i.e. 1/4 th
and 3/4th of Lc 50 values of Cypermethrin and Malathion. Both insecticides were taken for evaluation of biochemical changes
in fish for 96 h of exposure. Results showed significant fluctuation in protein, decrease in glycogen and lipid over the control.
These changes might be due to presence of pesticides in surrounding environment, which affect the health of ecologically
important ichthyofauna in natural water bodies indicating the need to protect environment and minimize pesticide in
agricultural fields.
Key words: Ichthyofauna, Biochemical constituents, Lepidocephalichthys guntea, Cypermethrin, Malathion.
Introduction cal constituents from total body muscles of experimen-
Acute exposures of fish to pesticides result in tal fish, Lepidocephalichthys guntea.
some biochemical changes, causing some interference. Materials And Methods
Every living organism has its own so called detoxifica- The freshwater fish, Lepidocephalichthys
tion mechanism to get rid of foreign substances in the guntea (body weight 2.0 ± 0.5 g and length 5.0 ± 2.0 cm)
body, however if toxic substance are encountered in were bought from local fishermen. They were acclima-
higher concentration, they are bound to bring severe tized to the laboratory conditions in well aerated and
adverse effects (Venkataramana et al., 2006; with the non-chlorinated tap water at the test medium
Satyavardhan, 2010). Such effect may be at cellular or conditions for 15 days. The physico-chemical param-
even at molecular level but ultimately it leads to behav- eter of water was analyzed prior to experiment by after
ioral, physiological, pathological and biochemical dis- APHA (1998). During this period fish were fed with
orders that may prove fatal (Patole et al., 2008; Rathod standard fish diet. Injured and dead fish were removed
et al., 2009; Yaji et al., 2011). to prevent any decomposition. A commercial grade
Recent understanding of different biochemi- Malathion and Cypermethrin was used for biochemical
cal processes has proved useful in determining the study.
mechanism of toxicity of different toxicant and also in A stock solution of the toxicants was pre-
unfolding the adaptive protective mechanism of the pared and further diluted in ppm according to dilution
body to fight the toxic effect of the pollutants (Sarkar technique (APHA, 1998). For experimentation, labora-
et al., 1996; Saha & Kaviraj, 2009). Besides it is also now tory acclimatized fish were divided into five groups of
felt that some of the biochemical alternation occurring 10 fish, each with average weight 15.0 ± 2.0 g taken into
in the body gives the first indication of the stress in the glass aquaria. Group-I was kept as control and remain-
organism and hence effect on the part of the pollution ing groups were experimental for exposing to sub-le-
(Venkataramana et al., 2006; Rathod et al., 2009). thal concentrations of both pesticides i.e. 1/4th and 3/
The number of changes in the biochemistry of 4th dose concentration. Diet was withdrawn 24 h be-
fish was reported as result of exposure to pesticides. fore experimentation. Water was renewed every 24 h in
Presently, the aquatic ecosystem is abandoned by in- order to provide fresh oxygenated water, to maintain
discriminate use of pesticides in agriculture field to the concentration of pesticides and also to remove
protect the crops. Unfortunately, many non-target fresh accumulated waste. All the groups were kept for 96 h.
water organisms like fish, mollusks, prawn, crabs, etc The schedule for treatment is shown below.
are adversely affected (Yaji et al., 2011). The biochemi- i. Group-I: Control.
cal studies are good parameters which help to see the ii. Group-II: Fish were exposed at 1/4th sub lethal dose
effect of toxicants on metabolism of fish (Ghosh, 1986; (2.75ppm) to Malathion.
Kajare et al., 2000). Hence, in present investigation, an iii. Group-III: Fish were exposed at 3/4th sub lethal dose
attempt has been made to find out induced effect of (8.25 ppm) to Malathion.
Malathion and Cypermethrin insecticides on biochemi-
SHODH, SAMIKSHA AUR MULYANKAN 33

2. International Indexed & Referred Research Journal, April, 2012. ISSN- 0974-2832, RNI-RAJBIL 2009/29954; VoL. IV * ISSUE-39
Table 1. Biochemical changes in fish, Lepidocephalichthys guntea exposed to sub-lethal doses of
Malathion and Cypermethrin for 96 h
Parameter Control Malathion Cypermethrin
(Group-I) ¼ LC 50 ) ¾ LC 50 ¼ LC 50 ¾ LC 50
(Group-II (Group-III) (Group-IV) (Group-V)
Glycogen 108. 25 ± 0. 11 79. 413 ± 0. 16 67. 16 ± 0. 21 61. 81 ± 0. 16 54. 44 ± 0. 16
(- 26. 86) * (- 37. 8)** (- 42. 60) ** (- 50. 00) **
Protein 160. 28 ± 0. 27 149. 30 ± 0.20 115. 68 ± 0. 27 106. 26 ± 0. 11 98. 87 ± 0. 12
(- 6. 80) NS (- 28.04)* (- 33. 75) ** (- 38. 62) **
Lipid 11. 26 ± 0. 80 8. 19 ± 0. 10 7. 55 ± 0. 22 8.2 ± 0. 14 3. 72 ± 0. 17
(- 27. 20) * (- 31. 80) * (- 27. 18) * (- 66. 37) ***
All values expressed in mg/ 100 g wet weight tissue and mean ± S. D. of six observations.
* Significant at P< 0.05, ** P < 0.01, *** P < 0.001. NS = Non significant at P > 0.05.
* Values in parentheses indicate percentage change over control (taken as 100 %).
iv. Group-IV-Fish were exposed at 1/4th sub lethal dose is one of the most outstanding biochemical lesions due
(1.3 ppm) to Cypermethrin. to action of many chemicals (Kajare et al., 2000; Saha
v. Group-V-Fish were exposed at 3/4th sub lethal dose & Kaviraj, 2009).
(3.9 ppm) to Cypermethrin. Significant decrease in protein was observed
At the end of 96 h treatment, those which in groups exposed to 3/4th Malathion (i.e.28.04 mg), 1/
survive were removed from test media, blotted on paper 4th Cypermethrin (i.e. 33.75 mg) and 3/4th Cypermethrin
and sacrificed. For further study, the freshly isolated (i.e. 38. 62 mg), whereas it was non-significant (i.e.6.8
body muscles were used. They were homogenized and mg) in group exposed to 1/4th LC50 concentration of
then centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 10 minutes. Superna- Malathion. Lepidocephalichthys guntea on acute
tant were used for estimation of glycogen and protein, expose to sub- lethal concentration showed low protein
whereas for lipid estimation, the body tissues were level of whole body tissues as compared to control and
subjected to ethyl ether: ethanol solvent (3:1). Mean, also fluctuated with the exposure at 96 h. The sub-
standard deviation and the student't' test were adopted lethal concentrations of Malathion were chosen to
to evaluate the level of significance. The standard evaluate their toxic impact on the protein metabolism.
procedures were used for the estimation of glycogen Reduced level of protein could be due to the reduction
(Miller, 1972), protein (Lowry et al., 1951) and lipid in protein synthesis because of liver cirrhosis (Parate
(Bling & Dyer, 1959). & Kulkarni, 2003), which signifies the effect of toxi-
Results and Discussion cants or pollutants on organism. Protein metabolism is
The biochemical changes are presented in also considered being one of the physiological events
Table 1. The impact of metabolic process may result in involved in the compensatory mechanism under stress
either increase or decrease in the metabolic rate, also condition (Devi & Piska, 2006; Venkataramana et al.,
depending on the site of action. The chemicals, that 2006; Yaji et al., 2011).
monitoring the metabolic rate during exposure to the The level of lipid content decreased signifi-
toxicant can provide valuable information regarding cantly in all treated groups, when compared with con-
physiological and biochemical mechanisms activated trol. Maximum decrease of lipid was observed in group
by the chemicals. exposed to 3/4th Cypermethrin (i.e.66. 37 %). In other
Depletion of glycogen content was noted in groups these are 27.20 %, 31.8 % and 20.18 % at 1/4th
exposed fish. As compared to Malathion, significant Malathion, 3/4th Malathion and 1/4th Cypermethrin re-
depletion in glycogen content was found with spectively. Lipid plays as important role in energy
Cypermethrin. A fall in glycogen level, in exposed fish metabolism and provide energy to metabolic processes.
indicates its rapid utilizes to meet the enhanced energy They are also important for cellular and sub-cellular
demand through; glycolysis pathway (Ghosh, 1986; membrane. It is used as energy reservoir, stored and
Satyavardhan, 2010) or it might be due to over activity transported in the form of glycerol esters (Patole et al.,
of muscle under Pesticidal stress (Baigh et al., 1991). It 2008; Rathod et al., 2009). These decreases in total lipid
is known that pesticides act on endocrine system. content of whole body tissue at different concentra-
Hence, decreased in glycogen content is due to inhibi- tions suggest that the lipid might have been channelized
tor of hormones which contribute to the glycogen to meet the metabolic demand for the extra energy
synthesis decrease. Glycogen serves as primary source needed to mitigate the toxic stress. Hence, lipid level
of energy for metabolic process in various organisms decreases significantly because liver is the principle
under stressful environmental condition (Singh & site of detoxification in vertebrates (Dixit, 2005).
Gupta, 2007). The disturbance in the glycogen profile In nutshell, both pesticides Malathion and
34

3. International Indexed & Referred Research Journal, April, 2012. ISSN- 0974-2832, RNI-RAJBIL 2009/29954; VoL. IV * ISSUE-39
Cypermethrin are highly toxic to Lepidocephalichthys teolysis and lipolysis to meet the energy demand.
guntea at acute exposure leading to affect the nutritive Acknowledgements
value of the fish as well as the entire metabolism studied Authors are thankful to principal, S. G. Patil
is found to be sensitive change which reflects changes College, Sakri for providing necessary laboratory fa-
in normal activities of various functional systems. It is cilities. Thanks are due to the Director, Zoological
concluded that, such toxicants induce alteration in survey of India, (WRO, Poona) for valuable think in
biochemical composition of fish muscles under Pesti- identification of experimental fish.
cidal stress. It might be due to glycogenolysis, pro-
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