Recent Trends in Zoological Research
Assessment of the Potential Toxic Effects of an
Insecticide Non-Selective (ALPHYTHRINE) on
Daphnia magna
Kadjouh Oussama Sofiane1,*, Azzouz Zoubir2, Djebar Mohamed Reda1
1
Biology Department, Cellular Toxicology Laboratory, Badji Mokhtar Annaba University, Algeria
2
Department of Marine Sciences, Badji Mokhtar Annaba University, Algeria
*E-mail: oussof.kad@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The present work aims to evaluate the potential acute toxicity of a non-selective organochlorine insecticide,
Alphythrine on a freshwater water cladoceran, Daphnia magna. The insecticide, the active ingredient of which
is deltamethrin, is made in Algeria and widely used by farmers. For the performance of our assessment, we
proceeded to expose daphnids to a range of increasing concentrations of deltamethrin. The concentrations
tested are: 75, 80, 85, 90 and 95 μg/l.
The results obtained show that the mean lethal concentrations (LC50), calculated by the Probit analysis, are of
the order of: 1.90 and 1.95 μg.L-1 after 24 and 48 hours respectively.
In addition, the antioxidant assay revealed oxidative stress which resulted in a drop in glutathione (GSH) and
increased glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and catalase (CAT) activities. Our results show that deltamethrin is
an insecticide toxic to Daphnia magna.
Keywords: Daphnia magna; Alphythrine; Oxidative stress; Mortality; Antioxidants.
INTRODUCTION
The intensive use of pesticides has increased dramatically over the last decades and consequently leads to the
contamination of various compartments of the environment. Thus, pesticides have become the most common
organic pollutants in natural waters [1].
This continued contamination of aquatic environments has triggered the need to identify new models and
bioassays for the assessment of water pollution [2, 3].
It is in this context that we carried out an eco-toxicological study consisting in determining the physiological,
biochemical and enzymatic modifications observed in a biological model of freshwater: Daphnia magna
subjected to treatment with an insecticide widely used in Algeria.
OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this work is to assess the potential acute toxicity of a non-selective organochlorine insecticide,
Alphythrine, on a freshwater water cladocerus, Daphnia magna. The insecticide whose active ingredient is
deltamethrin.
METHODOLOGY
Daphnia (Figure 1) come from a continuous culture in our laboratory, they are cultivated at constant
temperature and photoperiod [4-7] for treatment, after performing a series of preliminary tests with different
concentration ranges, five neonates are placed in test tubes containing 10 ml of medium For treatment, after
carrying out a series of preliminary tests with different concentration ranges, five neonates are placed in test
tubes containing 10 ml of medium and the desired concentration of (Alphythrine) ISO (ISO/DIS 6341.2).
The insecticide alphythrine, the active ingredient of which is deltamethrines (Figure 2), is manufactured in
Algeria, was the subject of this work.
International Conference on Biological Research and Applied Science 121
Recent Trends in Zoological Research
Figure 1. Daphnia magna.
Figure 2. Chemical structure of deltamethrin.
CONCLUSION AND RESULTS
The results obtained that alphythrine caused a dose-dependent inhibition after 24 and 48 hours of exposure in
the treated by the increasing concentrations. Metabolically, Alphythrine caused a dose-dependent increase in
the level of total protein. In addition, the monitoring of oxidative stress biomarkers showed a significant
depletion of the level of glutathione (GSH) accompanied by a sharp increase in the activities of glutathione S-
transferase (GST) and catalase (CAT) reflecting the toxic effects of this insecticide on Daphnia magna cells.
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