Chronic Study on the Environmentally Relevant Concentration of Cytotoxic Drug Cyclophosphamide on the Biochemical Responses of the Freshwater Mussel Lamellidens marginalis.

Increased prevalence of cancer leads to a gradual escalation in the consumption of anticancer drugs. Cyclophosphamide (CP), the most preferred anti-cancerous drug has been reported to be present in aquatic ecosystems and cause cellular damage in aquatic organisms. The current work determined the chronic (28 days) toxicity of ecologically pertinent quantity of CP (control-0), 0.1, 0.5, 1.0 and 5.0 µg/L of the freshwater mussel Lamellidens marginalis. Alterations in the energy reserves, oxidative stress and cellular damages such as lipid peroxidation, protein carbonyl activity, and antioxidant defences superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, redox balance reduced glutathione, neurotoxicity and histological damages were observed. The obtained results reveal that animals maintain their metabolic capacity with increased energy reserves in the uppermost exposure group. Increased quantity of CP accumulation was detected in exposed water samples than in gill tissues. A noteworthy decrease (p ≤ 0.005) in antioxidant activity was obtained in 0.5 and 5.0 µg/L of CP concentration. Overall, the present findings reveal that increased concentration of CP alters antioxidant defence mechanisms in Lamellidens marginalis.