Chemical analysis of internal environmental response of carp Puntius stigma to DDT.

Exposure of Puntius stigma to sublethal dose of DDT (0.05 ppm) for 15 days decreased the liver concentrations of protein and DNA from 65 +/- 0.91 to 63 +/- 0.78 mg/100 mg and 669 +/- 17 to 575 +/- 14 micrograms/100 mg, respectively whereas RNA increased from 8214 +/- 318 to 8929 +/- 209 micrograms/100 mg. Biotransformation products of this hydrocarbon interfered in the pathways of protein biosynthesis and induced proteolysis in hepatic tissues. The resulting changes were explained in the light of hypertrophication of liver parenchyma and inter-relationships of chemical constituents.