Effects of Acute Toxicity of Analytical Grade Glyphosate (AGG) herbicide on biochemical metabolic indices of Africa Catfish (Clarias gariepinus)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51459/jostir.2026.2.1.0300Keywords:
AGG herbicide, Catfish, LC50, antioxidants, aquatic organismsAbstract
Glyphosate is a widely-used herbicide mostly employed primarily in farming settings to control weed. Despite this usefulness, this chemical compound has been described as toxic to other non-targeted living organisms. This study investigated the effect of acute pure analytical grade (AGG) glyphosate concentration on Clarias gariepinus biochemical indices. An initial experiment was conducted for glyphosate lethal concentration (LC50) determination using a biostatic assay technique where juvenile African catfish were exposed to varying herbicide concentrations for 96 hours. The 0.0, 100, 125, 150, 175 and 200 mg/L concentrations determined from this pilot experiment were employed for acute toxicity study involving 10 juvenile fishes in each experimental group. After exposure time, the animals' blood, liver tissues as well as kidney tissues were collected for biochemical analysis. Exposure to AGG significantly (p<0.05) decreased δ-ALAD and GSH but increased NTPDase and 5' Nucleotidase as well as TBARS activities or levels in the animal tissues. AGG also increased plasma Aspartate (AST) and Alanine Transaminase (ALT), ALP, bilirubin, as well as urea and creatinine in the exposed animals group when compared with control group. This observed alteration in functional biomarkers in treated animals could be associated with the increased oxidative imbalance mediated by herbicide exposure. In conclusion, glyphosate is lethal to aquatic organisms and its exposure may alter or shut down the organism's biochemical, physiological and morphological systems.
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