DETERMINATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL RESIDUES IN COMMERCIAL CULTIVABLE FISHES AND ITS IMPACT ON PUBLIC HEALTH

Abstract

Antimicrobials are used as therapeutics and prophylaxis in commercial fish farms of Bangladesh to improve profitability. The Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) method was performed to detect the presence of antimicrobial residues in commercial fishes. Moreover, the Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography (UHPLC) method was performed to determine the concentration of antimicrobial residues. Ciprofloxacin residues were detected in Tilapia (Oreochromis aureus), Stinging catfish (Heteropneustes fossilis), Climbing perch (Anabas testudineus), and Pabda (Ompok pabda) fish samples of 42%, 31%, 20%, and 10%, respectively. Enrofloxacin residues were detected 31% in Pabda, 22% in Tilapia, 22% in Stinging catfish, and 17% in Climbing perch fish samples. Levofloxacin residues were detected 27% in Pabda, 17% in Stinging catfish, 17% in Climbing perch, and 15% in Tilapia fish. Oxytetracycline residues were detected 41% in Pabda, 27% in Stinging catfish, 24% in Tilapia, and 23% in Climbing perch fish samples. Chlortetracycline residues were detected 49% in Tilapia, 43% in Pabda, 35% in Stinging catfish, and 21% in Climbing perch fish samples. Doxycycline residues were detected at 38% in Pabda, 32% in Tilapia, 28% in Stinging catfish, and 16% in Climbing perch fish. Furthermore, the average concentration of Ciprofloxacin residues in Stinging catfish was 45.85 μg/Kg, whereas in Pabda, Tilapia, and Climbing perch were 24.08 μg/Kg, 19.97 μg/Kg, and 18.29 μg/Kg, respectively. The average concentration of Enrofloxacin residues in Climbing perch was 69.32 μg/Kg, whereas in Pabda, Stinging catfish, and Tilapia were 66.21 μg/Kg, 61.13 μg/Kg, and 56.53 μg/Kg, respectively. The average concentration of Levofloxacin residues in Climbing perch was 37.59 μg/Kg, whereas in Pabda, Tilapia, and Stinging catfish were 24.74 μg/Kg, 22.28 μg/Kg, and 9.94 μg/Kg, respectively. The average concentration of Oxytetracycline residues in Pabda was 88.73 μg/Kg, whereas in Tilapia, Climbing perch, and Stinging catfish were 87.40 μg/Kg, 73.32 μg/Kg, and 68.44 μg/Kg, respectively. The highest Hazard Quotient (HQ) was found for Enrofloxacin in Climbing perch (0.480) followed by Pabda (0.460), Stinging catfish (0.420), and in Tilapia (0.387), which might be considered as potential HQ. Ciprofloxacin, and Levofloxacin residues were also potential HQ, but the values were less (<1.0). Although the residues might not show the toxicological effect as the HQ value was less than 1.0, they still have public health hazards due to antimicrobial resistance (AMR).