Abstract

Research Article

Biochemical Responses to Fenvalerate Exposure in Zebrafish (Danio rerio Hamilton, 1822)

Leena Grace Beslin*

Published: 24 July, 2026 | Volume 9 - Issue 1 | Pages: 55-60

Fenvalerate is a widely used synthetic pyrethroid insecticide with recognised toxicity to aquatic organisms. This study evaluated its toxic effects on zebrafish (Danio rerio) by assessing mortality, biochemical alterations, and protein profile changes following exposure to 20–100 µg/L fenvalerate. Mortality increased in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. At 20 µg/L, mortality increased from 55% at 24 h to 82% at 96 h, while 40 and 60 µg/L resulted in mortality rising from 62% to 94% and 71% to 99%, respectively. Exposure to 80 µg/L caused 79–100% mortality, and complete mortality was observed at 80 and 100 µg/L after 72 and 96 h, respectively. Sublethal (LC50) exposure induced significant biochemical changes in gill and muscle tissues. Gill protein content decreased from 
120.0 ± 1.22 mg/g in controls to 110.0 ± 1.40 mg/g after 96 h, whereas muscle protein declined from 80.2 ± 1.3 to 60.0 ± 2.7 mg/g. Lipid reserves were also markedly reduced, with muscle lipid content decreasing from 4.0 ± 0.46% to 3.1 ± 0.12% and gill lipid content from 6.5 ± 0.22% to 2.5 ± 0.31% after 96 h. SDS-PAGE analysis revealed distinct alterations in protein banding patterns between control and treated fish, indicating fenvalerate-induced changes in protein expression. These findings demonstrate that fenvalerate causes severe concentration- and time-dependent toxicity, leading to increased mortality, depletion of proteins and lipids, and altered protein profiles, highlighting its ecological risk to aquatic organisms and the utility of zebrafish as a sensitive model for pesticide toxicity assessment.

Read Full Article HTML DOI: 10.29328/journal.ijcmbt.1001041 Cite this Article Read Full Article PDF

Keywords:

Aquatic toxicity; Mortality; Biochemical alterations; Protein content; Lipid content; SDS–PAGE; Gill; Muscle

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