BIOCHEMICAL EVALUATIONS OF QUINALPHOS EXPOSED ZEBRAFISH LIVER ORGANOTYPIC TISSUE

Abstract

As being a broad-spectrum, organophosphorus insecticide and acaricide, quinalphos is widely used against a range of pests, and has a great threat on aquatic systems. Although the methods for detecting and predicting of the harmful effects of chemicals on non-target organisms are traditionally perfected by in vivo experiments, cell culture methods that being used widely in recent decades is also an important tool for these kinds of research. In order evaluate the effects of quinalphos on liver organotypic culture system of zebrafish, tissue cubes (1-2 mm3) were prepared by dissection and slicing of liver tissues, embedded in agarose and cultured. The cubes were exposed to three different concentrations of quinalphos (2, 4 and 8 mg/L) for 24 and 96 hours. By performing comet assay as an emerging tool for cytotoxicity, it was detected that quinalphos causes DNA damage. Increased levels of catalase, superoxide dismutase and glutathione-s-transferase were also measured. All of these parameters were noted as concentration- and time-dependent. Our data suggest that organotypic liver tissue culture of zebrafish is a practical alternative to whole fish.