1Department of Biology, Federal College of Education, Eha Amufu, Nigeria
2Department of Applied Biology and Biotechnology, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu, Nigeria
3Department of Zoology and Environmental Biology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
* Corresponding author: chinedu.atama@unn.edu.ng; chris.nwani@unn.edu.ng
ABSTRACT
The study investigated the biochemical responses of Bufo regularis tadpoles exposed to two widely used agricultural pesticides, Butaforce® and Termex®. The Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and total protein (TP) concentrations in homogenized muscle samples was determined by standard procedures. ALT, AST and ALP increased significantly in response to concentrations of Butaforce® (7.00, 9.00 and 11.00 µgL-1) and Termex® (15.00, 20.00 and 25.00 µgL-1) used. The TP decreased in response to the same concentrations of pesticides. The response of these biochemical parameters were dependent on concentration of the pesticides; it increased as concentration of pesticides was increased. This study showed that Butaforce® and Termex® are toxic to B. regularis tadpoles, and both induced concentration dependent biochemical changes indicative of muscle damage and depletion of protein synthesis. Both pesticides should be applied with extreme caution to avoid toxicity to non-target organisms.
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