EFFECT OF ETHANOLIC EXTRACTS OF Lepidagathis alopecuroides ON ENZYMATIC CHANGES IN SELECTED TISSUES OF Clarias gariepinus

Treatment of aquaculture fishes with plant extracts to control disease, boost production and fishing is a general phenomenon. This study investigated the effect of different doses of Lepidagathis alopecuroides on enzyme activities of Clarias gariepinus after fourteen days. On the fourteenth day, the fish were killed and tissues excised from them. The tissues were treated according to standard methods and examined for enzymes, Aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities. It was observed that the activities were tissue specific. AST activity was generally increased in all the tissues examined except the liver, where there was a decline in activity. The highest AST activity was observed in the liver at 2.00 mg/L dose which was 282.50±20.00 IU/L as against the control value of 152.50± 19.70 IU/L. The least observed activity of AST was recorded at 4.00 mg/L dose which was 42.50 ± 8.66 IU/L as against the control value of 65.00 ± 17.32 IU/L. The activity of ALT in the tissues were almost the same in the tissues examined except in the muscle where significant (P< 0.05) elevations in activity was observed with the highest value recorded at 6.00mg/L dose which was 66.25 ± 12.50 IU/L when compared to the value of 20.00 ± 0.00 IU/L observed in the control. ALP activity declined in the gill and the liver, fluctuated in the kidney and elevated in the muscle. The highest level of activity was 938.75 ± 59.21 IU/L observed in the kidney at 2.00 mg/L dose concentration as against the control value of 56.00 ± 26.27. The observed data indicated tissue specific toxicity. Therefore, the study could better be appreciated if each tissue is considered individually rather than looking at them generally.