Abstract
In a recently published study we observed that significant changes in the cellular and molecular levels that associated with the accumulation of heavy metals in liver of a sentinel fish species Variola louti collected from Al-Badhae site, which received a partial treated municipal sewage, located along the Jeddah Red Sea coast. The present study was aimed to evaluate pesticide, antioxidant and detoxifying enzymes V. louti to assess the impact of sewage. The concentration of heavy metals (Fe, Cu, Ni, Pb, Cd, Cr and Zn) in water from polluted area was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than those taken from reference area. Acetylcholinesterase was increased 8.8-10.5 folds in reference area than that in polluted area (P < 0.001). On the contrary, the activities of catalase, glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione-S-transferase were significantly higher in polluted area than that in reference area. In conclusion, the high level of heavy metals in water of polluted area had the most effect on the antioxidant and detoxifying enzymes. The low level of AChE indicated the presence of the high levels of pesticides in polluted area. These results supported that the sewage should be completely treated before draining in Red Sea.