ABSTRACT
The current study investigated the antioxidant potential of ascorbic acid to counteract arsenic induced toxic response in Cyprinus carpio. The 96 h LC50 of 107.05 mg L-1 was recorded through acute toxicity test and 1/5th and 1/10th LC50 of arsenic were chosen as sublethal concentrations for assessing toxicity induced through arsenic exposure in fish for a period of 28 days. There were six experimental groups for sublethal toxicity testing viz. negative control (basal feed), positive control (basal feed + 1 g kg-1 diet ascorbic acid), 1/5th LC50 Arsenic, 1/10th LC50 Arsenic, 1/5th LC50 Arsenic with ascorbic acid supplement, 1/10th LC50 Arsenic with ascorbic acid supplement. Following exposure, blood indices, antioxidant enzyme activity and histomorphology of gills, liver and kidney were examined. The results showed decreased total erythrocyte count, haemoglobin, haematocrit and an increased total leukocyte count upon arsenic exposure in fish with an improvement observed in the blood indices in arsenic with ascorbic acid supplementation. The study also analysed the antioxidant enzyme activity of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and glutathione-S-transferase which was found to decline in response to arsenic exposure with an increase in their activity recorded in arsenic with ascorbic acid supplemented fish. Furthermore, uptake of arsenic was also found to decrease on ascorbic acid supplementation with improvement in the histoarchitecture of gills, liver and kidney of fish. Collectively, the findings of the present study suggest the effectiveness of ascorbic acid as an ameliorating agent against the deleterious effects of arsenic in fish.
