Enzymatic Effect of Basic Chromium Sulphate (A Tannery Chemical) in an Air Breathing Fish Channa punctatus (Bloch.)

This study has been made to investigate the acute LC₅₀ (96 h) of basic chromium sulphate (BCS) and its impact on serum glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT) and serum glutamate-pyruvate transaminase (SGPT) activities of air breathing fish Channa punctatus under lab. conditions. The estimated LC₅₀ was 2025 mg/l. The mortality per cent increased with increased concentration of the toxicant. The fishes were exposed to higher concentration of BCS (1/10^th of 96 h LC₅₀) for 11, 22, 33, 44 and 56 days and to lower concentration of BCS (1/ 20^th of 96 h LC₅₀) for 15, 30, 45, 60, 75 and 90 days. Fishes exposed to both higher and lower concentrations of BCS showed significant increase in the activity of SGOT and SGPT during the whole experiment as compared to control. These findings indicate that SGOT and SGPT are candidate biomarkers for BCS induced hepatotoxicity in Channa punctatus.