Effects of dietary pyridoxine on growth and biochemical responses of Labeo rohita fingerlings exposed to endosulfan

A sixty-day experiment was carried out to study the effect of dietary pyridoxine (PN) on growth performance, RNA/DNA ratio and some biochemical parameters of Labeo rohita fingerlings exposed to sub-lethal dose of endosulfan (1/10th of 96 h static non-renewal LC₅₀ = 0.2 ppb) to assess the role of pyridoxine in ameliorating the negative effects of endosulfan. Two hundred seventy fingerlings (6.5 ± 0.26 g) were randomly distributed into six treatments in triplicates (15 fish/tank). Five iso-nitrogenous (35.45-35.75% crude protein) purified diets were prepared with graded levels of pyridoxine. Six treatment groups were T₀ (10 mg PN + without endosulfan), T₁ (0 mg PN + endosulfan), T₂ (10 mg PN + endosulfan), T₃ (50 mg PN + endosulfan), T₄ (100 mg PN + endosulfan) and T₅ (200 mg PN + endosulfan). Weight gain (%), specific growth rate (SGR), tissue glycogen, and protease activity were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in pyridoxine fed groups compared to their non-pyridoxine fed counterpart. Protease activity was positively correlated (R² = 0.931) with (%) weight gain. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) activity was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in non-pyridoxine fed group and decreased in pyridoxine fed counterparts. There were no significant (P > 0.05) effect of dietary pyridoxine on feed conversion ratio (FCR), protein efficiency ratio (PER), survival, gastro-somatic index (GSI), hepato-somatic index (HSI) and liver and muscle DNA levels of L. rohita fingerlings. RNA levels, both in liver and muscle, increased significantly (P < 0.05) in pyridoxine fed groups. A positive correlation was observed between growth and RNA levels, both in liver (R² = 0.91) and muscle (R² = 0.88). RNA/DNA ratio showed a third order polynomial relationship with dietary pyridoxine, both in liver (Y = −0.014x³ + 0.1613x² − 0.5333x + 0.7933, R² = 0.987) and muscle (Y = −0.0407x³ + 0.4763x² − 1.6358x + 2.4667, R² = 0.9345). The overall results obtained in present study indicated that dietary pyridoxine supplementation at 100 or 200 mg PN/kg diet ameliorates the negative effects of endosulfan and restores optimal growth of L. rohita fingerlings.