Fish tolerance to organophosphate-induced oxidative stress is dependent on the glutathione metabolism and enhanced by N-acetylcysteine

Abstract Dichlorvos (2,2-dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate, DDVP) is an organophosphorus (OP) insecticide and acaricide extensively used to treat external parasitic infections of farmed fish. In previous studies we have demonstrated the importance of the glutathione (GSH) metabolism in the resistance of the European eel ( Anguilla anguilla L.) to thiocarbamate herbicides. The present work studied the effects of the antioxidant and glutathione pro-drug N -acetyl- l -cysteine (NAC) on the survival of a natural population of A. anguilla exposed to a lethal concentration of dichlorvos, focusing on the glutathione metabolism and the enzyme activities of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and caspase-3 a…