histological effects of cadmium on hepatopancreas and gill in cyprinus carpio

Background: histological studies in organs like hepatopancreas and gill of the freshwater fish, cyprinus carpio, were made to assess tissue damage due to sub-lethal concentration of cadmium after a long exposure period. methods: this study was conducted in university of tehran, in 2013. the fish were divided into two groups in 1000 litre fiberglass tanks supplied with dechlorinated water [hardness 302.6 mg caco3/l, ph 7, o2 7.8 mg/l and temperature 15 ± 2 °c] and continuous aeration. group 1 was without any cadmium considered as control group. group 2 was exposed to 30 ppb cdcl2 (merck) containing 7.8 ppb cadmium. the tissue samples from: hepatopancreas, gill were collected 30 days post exposure and processed by histological procedures. results: the main lesions in cadmium exposed groups were: (a) pancreatitis necrosis in endocrine part of pancreas (b) cholangitis and necrosis in liver parenchyma (c) hypertrophy, fusion and telangiectasia in secondary lamellae conclusion: cadmium chloride at low concentration can induce pathological alterations in hepatopancreas and gill of common carp.