ABSTRACT:
Diclofenac a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug is one of the most predominant pharmaceutically active compound which directly or indirectly enters into aquatic environment and shows negative impact on non targeted species such as fishes. In this context the toxicity evaluation of diclofenac sodium is under taken on protein concentration of fresh water zebra fish, Danio rerio. LC50 at 96 h exposure of diclofenac determined by direct interpolation method was found to be 11.25mg/l. For the estimation of protein content fishes were divided into four separate groups of ten fishes each. First group served as control, second group exposed with 96 h LC50. Third and fourth groups treated with 1/2 of LC50 of 96 h for seven and fifteen days respectively. Fishes were sacrificed after acute and sublethal exposure to estimate the protein concentration in liver, gills and muscles. The tissues were taken out homogenized in distilled water and centrifuged separately. The protein concentration was estimated in both supernatants and residues after keeping the residues in 1% NaOH over night. It was noticed that protein concentration of liver, gills and muscles of the fish decreased within 96 h diclofenac exposure. The elevation in protein content was observed after long term exposure when compared to control group as well as 96 h treated group. This study reveals that diclofenac can alter the level of the protein in fishes.