Abstract
BACKGROUND: Fish in aquatic environments are end consumers of the food chain and are widely used for the evolution effects of environmental pollution and their interactions in aquatic ecosystem. OBJECTIVE: In the present study, common carp (Cyprinus carpio) fingerlings were selected to assess the potential risk and aquatic toxicity of meloxicam as a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and a commonly used pharmaceutical drug. METHODS: In order to evaluate meloxicam toxicological effect on haematological, antioxidant status, enzymological and histological parameters, based on its LC50 24 h acute toxicity (10.05 mg L(-1) ), fish fingerlings were exposed to four doses of meloxicam including; 0 (control), 0.1 (low), 1 (medium) and 2 mg L(-1) (high) under static bioassay method for 28 days. RESULTS: The results showed that sublethal doses of meloxicam significantly decreased alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) levels in comparison with the control group after 28 days (p < 0.05). However, red blood cell, haematocrit, haemoglobin and malondialdehyde values in fish exposed to meloxicam significantly increased alongside its concentration (p < 0.05) more than the control group after 28 days. SOD, CAT and GPX mRNA expression levels in gill, liver, kidney and brain organ of fish under meloxicam treatment were significantly down-regulated compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Histopathological assessment showed the increased vacuolation in hepatocytes in liver of fish exposure to medium and high doses of meloxicam. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, meloxicam induces oxidative stress in common carp which results a disruption of physiological and health status of this species based on our current findings.