Gholami-Seyedkolaei_2013_Ecotoxicol.Environ.Saf_98_152

The present study is the first report on optimization of recovery conditions of fishes exposed to pesticides using response surface methodology-central composite rotatable design (RSM-CCRD). The sub-lethal toxicity bioassay of Roundup((R)) (2ppm ~10 percent LC50, 96h) in common carp (1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 35 and 40 day) was investigated. After exposure for 16 days to Roundup((R)), some the fishes were introduced to herbicide-free water. The effects of four recovery parameters including time (5-25d), temperature (18-26 degrees C), water exchange rate (WER, 10-30), and salinity (0-8ppt) on the levels of biomarkers of genotoxicity (DNA damage), neurotoxicity (acetylcholinesterase activity (AChE)), and the serum alanine (ALT) and aspartate (AST) aminotransferase in plasma were studied. The polynomial equations were significantly fitted for all response variables with high R(2) values (>0.95), which revealed no indication of lack of fit. The optimum conditions for the maximum AChE activity (37.14nmol/min/mg protein) and the minimum levels of DNA damage (8.00 percent tail DNA), ALT (27.0IU/L) and AST (91.0IU/L) were time of 20d, temperature of 20 degrees C, WER of 25 and water salinity of 6ppt. Thus, a promising improvement for the recovery trend of fishes exposed to Roundup((R)) stress was obtained under the optimized conditions using RSM-CCRD.