Effects of Acute Copper Exposure on Physiological and Cytological Responses in Liver of GIFT Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

This study was designed to evaluate the physiological and cytological responses in liver of GIFT tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) to acute copper exposure. Fish were exposed to three Cu treatments at the following concentrations: 0 (control), 1.96 mg/L and 3.92 mg/L, and liver samples were collected after 96h of exposure. Observation of oil red O staining showed that acute copper exposure increased lipid accumulation in liver, which may due to changes of hepatic enzyme activities (malic enzyme, lipoprotein lipase, hepatic lipase, fatty acid synthetase, carnitine palmitoyltransferases l) and lesions of some organelles such as mitochondria and swollen rough endoplasmic reticulum of hepatocytes. This study indicated that acute copper exposure induced hepatic lipid metabolic disturbances and damaged hepatic organelle in GIFT tilapia.