Effect of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) on the activity of some enzymes from Tetrahymena pyriformis

Tetrahymena pyriformis Wh 14 was grown in Erlenmeyer flasks under continuous stirring at 30 degrees C for three days . After the culture had produced dry matter of about 100 mg HCB was added in acetone at a dose level of 0, 0.001, 0.1 and 1.0 ppm to the culture and incubated for another 7 days. At a dose level of 0.001 ppm the activity of delta-aminolevulinate dehydratase, hexokinase, and pyruvate kinase remained unaffected but was increased for glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase, glutamic dehydrogenase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, and malate dehydrogenase while 0.1 ppm HCB increased the activity of all enzymes studied, the only exception being glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, the activity of which was depressed by HCB exposure. A concentration of 1.0 ppm HCB depressed the activity of most of the enzymes below control values with the exception of the two mitochondrial enzymes, MDH and ICDH, studied here.