Toxicity assessment of Oreochromis mossambicus exposed to carbamazepine and selenium: Physiological and genotoxic approach.

Although the toxicity of selenium (Se) and carbamazepine (CBZ) has already been demonstrated, the possible effects of freshwater fish co-exposure to these pollutants have not been explored. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the potential impact of Se and CBZ (alone and combined) exposure (both 5 µg/L) in Oreochromis mossambicus after 28 days. Exposure to CBZ, alone or combined with Se, significantly increases the "red blood cells" and "mean corpuscular volume." In the gills, malondialdehyde levels in the "CBZ" and "Se + CBZ" groups were lower than in the control group. Furthermore, the exposure to treatments induced a significant increase in protein carbonyl formation in gills and DNA damage in gill and liver cells. Still, acetylcholinesterase activity in the brain was not changed. Thus, our study provides insight into the toxicity of metals and pharmaceutical drugs and warns about the ecotoxicological risk posed by such mixtures.