ABSTRACT
In the realm of ecotoxicological research, fish often serve as primary indicators due to their pivotal roles within the aquatic food chain, their ability to accumulate environmental toxins, and their remarkable sensitivity to even minuscule quantities of mutagenic substances. As such, they represent an ideal choice for investigations in the fields of toxicology and pharmacology. The specific focus of this study was to investigate the effects of atrazine of reproductive biomarkers in juvenile Clarias gariepinus. The biomarkers investigated include follicle stimulation hormone (FSH), Luteinizing hormone (LH) and Estradiol (E2). Water quality parameters, including pH, alkalinity, hardness, dissolved oxygen, and biological oxygen demand, were within the acceptable ranges for aquaculture, thus ensuring that these parameters did not contribute to the observed behavioral changes in the fish. Clarias gariepinus juveniles were subjected to varying atrazine concentrations (10, 20, and 30 µg/L) for a duration of 28 days, distributed across different experimental groups of atrazine alone (C, CVT, ATI, ATII, ATIII) and atrazine + Vitamin C (ATIVT, ATIIVT, ATIIIVT). The result indicates that the exposure to atrazine resulted in a significant reduction in the levels of FSH, LH, and E2 in the study. Vitamin C showed significant potential toward the abatement of the toxic effects of atrazine evidenced by significant increase in the hormonal profiles with co-exposure. Atrazine, therefore, poses serious reproductive risk to fish. Supplementation of fish feed with right amount of Vitamin C may be a booster towards anti-toxicity in food fish such as C. gariepinus
