Response of antioxidant system of freshwater fish Oreochromis niloticus to acute and chronic metal (Cd, Cu, Cr, Zn, Fe) exposures

Antioxidant systems are known to be sensitive to metal exposures and are suggested to use in predicting sublethal metal toxicity. In this study, several antioxidant enzymes, such as catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione S-transferase (GST), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and glutathione reductase (GR) were measured in the liver and kidney of Oreochromis niloticus exposed to sublethal concentrations of metals (Cd, Cu, Cr, Zn and Fe), using an acute (20 μM, 48 h) or subchronic (10 μM, 20 d) protocol. Beside the several increases of antioxidant enzyme activities, general inhibition was recorded after acute and chronic metal exposures. Results indicated that there were variations in responses of the enzymes to metal exposures, depending upon tissues, metals and exposure types. This study emphasized that the antioxidant enzymes are very sensitive to metals as their activities altered significantly, suggesting they could be helpful in predicting sublethal metal toxicity and useful as an early warning tool in natural monitoring studies.