Histological Alteration in the Kidney of a Fresh Water Cat Fish Clarias Batrachus Exposed to Silver Nanoparticles

Smita Shukla(Nee Trivedi); S. K. Singh; Rajesh Singh

Abstract

Despite increasing application of silver nanoparticles (NPs) in industry and consumer products, there is still little known about their potential toxicity, particularly to organism in aquatic environment. Our aim is to investigate the fate and effect of silver NPs in fish Clarias batrachus. The histological alterations in the kidney of a freshwater catfish Clarias batrachus exposed to sublethal concentration silver nanoparticle were examined. The kidney exhibited shrinkage of glomeruli but the tubular structure was not affected after 10 days of 0.10 mg/l silver nanoparticle. The glomeruli were further shrunken along with the widening of tubular lumen after 20 days of exposure. In the fishes exposed to 0.16 mg/l silver nanoparticle (10 nm), the kidney showed distorted glomerular organization, leaving a mass of cell and swollen tubular after 10 days of exposure. The epithelial cells of the tubules had lost the cell membranes and the area of lumen was now decreased after 20 days of exposure of silver nanoparticle. Therefore it is inferred that the harmful impact of silver nanoparticle on the kidney is dose and time dependent.Keywords: Silver nanoparticles, Clarias batrachus