Haloperidol alters the behavioral, hematological and biochemical parameters of freshwater African catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell 1822).

The presence of drugs and their metabolites in surface waters and municipal effluents has been reported in several studies, but their impacts on aquatic organisms are not yet well studied. The present study investigated the effects of exposure to the antipsychotic drug, haloperidol on the behavioral, hematological and biochemical parameters in juvenile Clarias gariepinus. The fishes were exposed to 0.12, 0.24 and 0.48 mg/L haloperidol for 15 days and later withdrawn from the toxicant and allowed to recover for 5 days. Blood was sampled on days 1, 5, 10, 15, and after the 5-day recovery for hematological and biochemical analysis. The pack cell volume (PCV), red blood cells (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb), reticulocytes and lymphocyte counts were significantly reduced in the exposed fish. The neutrophil counts were increased while that of monocytes, basophils and eosinophils were not affected by the drug. The mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were not different from the control on exposure to the drug. The activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and acid phosphatase (ACP); and serum creatinine, bile acid and bilirubin were increased on 15-day exposure to the drug. The activity of the clotting factor fibrinogen was reduced compared to the control after exposure to the drug. Haloperidol at concentrations used on 15-day exposure were toxic to fish, but the effect appeared short-lived, as it dissipated on 5-day withdrawal from the drug. While further studies are needed to ascertain the impact of prolonged exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations, caution is advised to avoid eco-toxicological damage to aquatic organisms.