Variations in alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities in African catfish: Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) at different sublethal concentrations of potassium permanganate

Potassium permanganate (KMnO4) is a widely used freshwater aquaculture chemotherapeutant for the treatment and prevention of waterborne parasitic and fungal diseases. The specific objective of this research is to determine its effects on alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities in the plasma of the widely consumed African catfish, Clarias gariepinus. C. gariepinuswere exposed to sublethal concentrations (0.0, 2.0, 6.0 and 10.0 mg/L) of potassium permanganate for 12, 24, 48, 96 and 192 h adopting the static renewal bioassay technique and subjected to blood and plasma analyses. Empirical data of the results obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to test the level of significance between the various sublethal concentrations of KMnO4 and the exposure periods. Exposure to Potassium permanganate caused significant (p < 0.05) increase in alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase. Increased activities of both aminotransferases indicated amplified transamination processes and were used as stress indicators.   Key words: Potassium permanganate, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, Clarias gariepinus, Nigeria.