Negative impacts of ultraviolet-A radiation on antioxidant and oxidative stress biomarkers of African catfish Clarias gariepinus

Abstract

The present study was carried out to evaluate the ultraviolet-A (UVA) effects on biochemical, oxidative stress and antioxidant changes using aquatic species. The destructive effects of ultraviolet-A radiation on the African Catfish, Clarias gariepinus was revealed in terms of the carbonyl protein (CP), lipid peroxidation (LPO), DNA damage, super oxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (Gpx), glutathione reductase (GR), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), glutathione (GSH) and total antioxidant (TAO) in the gills, kidney, liver, muscles and skin. Also, glucose, total lipid, total protein and cortisol content of fish serums was detected. These parameters can be used as biomarkers to identify the negative effects of UVA radiation (20, 60 and 180 min per day) for 3 days in different tissues of Clarias gariepinus. There was a significant decrease in the activity of SOD, CAT, Gpx, GSH, G6PDH, LDH, and TAO in all of the examined tissues. The pattern of GR activity in UVA exposed groups showed no significant differences compared with the control group. However, CP, LPO and DNA damage were increased significantly with exposure periods in all of the examined tissues. The exposure to different doses of UVA caused hypoglycaemia, hypolipidimia and hypoproteinimia. Cortisol levels showed a significant increase after UV exposure when compared with the control group. In conclusion, UVA exposure with different time periods has been shown to have negative effects on the blood biochemistry, hormonal and antioxidant capacity of Clarias gariepinus tissues.