Hepatic mRNA expression of SOD and CAT activities and antioxidant profile in blood of juvenile African catfish exposed to transport stress

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate stress responses of juveniles African catfish exposed to transportation for 6hrs duration in plastic bags. The fish were separated into two groups; control and treatment. The fish in the treatment group were placed in nylon bags with 7.5 liters of oxygenated freshwater in each bag. The bags were labeled according to the duration of transport as T1, T3, and T6 and the transportation was carried out in triplicate while the control group was not transported. Blood and liver samples were collected as follows; immediately after transportation, three days after transportation and six days after transportation for biochemical and molecular assay. In African catfish juveniles, transportation showed a substantial (P <0.05) increase in SOD and CAT mRNA expression shortly after transportation and a considerable (P <0.05) decrease on the third and sixth days after transportation. The result of the antioxidant profile of SOD, CAT, and GSH indicated significant increase (P <0.05) immediately after transportation, third and sixth day after transportation. It is concluded that live transportation process is a significant stressor as it results in significant changes in biochemical parameters and liver of African catfish juveniles.