Biochemical effects of the pharmaceutical drug paracetamol on Anguilla anguilla.

The ever-increasing presence of pharmaceutical drugs in the environment is a motif of concern, and human-use drugs are of particular importance. This is the case of paracetamol, a widely employed drug in human therapeutics, as analgesic and antipyretic, whose toxicity on aquatic organisms is still not fully characterized. The present study aimed to assess the toxic deleterious effects of paracetamol on European eel, Anguila anguilla, by using a comprehensive battery of antioxidant biomarkers (activities of enzymes such as catalase (CAT) and glutathione S-transferases (GSTs)), and the quantification of oxidative damage (measurement of levels of lipid peroxidation (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) assay)).