SUBLETHAL EFFECTS OF AN ORGANOPHOSPHORUS INSECTICIDE ON CERTAIN METABOLITE LEVELS IN A FRESH-WATER FISH, PUNTIUS-CONCHONIUS HAMILTON

Alterations in the metabolite levels were monitored in a common freshwater bony fish, Puntius conchonius, chronically exposed to a sublethal concentration (109.5 ppm) of an organophosphorus insecticide, phosphamidon. Significant hyperglycemia, hyperlactemia, hypercholesterolemia, hyperlipemia, hyperproteinemia, and increased blood-free fatty acids were manifested in the exposed fish for up to 4 weeks. The phosphorus levels in the blood, however, fell. In other tissues, there was an increase in the hepatosomatic index, moderate hepatic and skeletal muscle glycogenesis, a severe depletion of glycogen reserves in the brain, and a significant increase in heart glycogen. Cholesterol (liver, ovary, and testes), total lipids (liver and ovary), free fatty acids (liver and skeletal muscles), and total proteins (liver) were elevated in the exposed fish, and there were signs of lipolysis and protein breakdown in the skeletal muscles. Except for the liver-free fatty acids and heart glycogen, organophosphorus effects on other variables were not abolished during recovery in clean water. © 1990.