Polychlorinated biphenyls and antioxidant enzymes in liver of Cyprinus carpio from Lake Trasimeno

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners and selected biochemical parameters (total glutathione, glutathione-S-transferase, glutathione peroxidase, catalase, glutathione reductase, glyoxalase I, glyoxalase II were measured in carp liver of both sexes collected from Lake Trasimeno during the spawning and postspawning periods. The most abundant congeners found were PCB-138, PCB-153 and PCB-180, even if all PCB congeners investigated were recorded in low amounts. No significant variations in congener concentrations in relation to sex and sampling periods were observed in carp liver. Among the biochemical parameters investigated, total glutathione, glutathione S-transferase, glyoxalase II and catalase, showed differences according to sex, and thus the variations in antioxidant response of carp seem to be linked more to biological status, than to the presence of PCBs congeners in liver of the same specimens.