Effect of cyanobacteria extract on some associated enzymes in mouse liver <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vivo</Emphasis>

Blooms of toxin-producing cyanobacteria have become increasingly common in the surface water of the world. In this study, we studied the dose- and time-dependent effects of a microcystin (MC) extract of cyanobacteria from Dianchi Lake in China on liver weight/body weight ratio and superoxide dismutase (SOD), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities in mouse liver. We found that exposure to the cyanobacterial extract (CE) resulted in increase in liver weight/body weight ratio in a dose-dependent manner, and the mouse liver reached the maximum size at 1 h post-exposure (pe). SOD activity in mouse liver decreased in a dose-dependent manner, and time course study indicated that it decreased significantly at 1 and 2 h pe, and resumed at 3 h pe as compared to control. CE caused LDH activity in the livers of mice to decrease in a dose- and time-dependent manner except a small increase in 30 min pe mice. GSH-Px activity increased in a dose-dependent manner, and was higher than that in the control over the 3 h observation period. The present findings suggest that oxidative damage may be involved in the toxicity of microcystins on mouse.