Consequences of oxidative damage and mitochondrial dysfunction on the fatty acid profile of muscle of Indian Major Carps considering metal toxicity Debjit Das a , Payel Das b , Mahammed Moniruzzaman a , Mousumi Poddar Sarkar b , Joyita Mukherjee c , Suman Bhusan Chakraborty a, * a Department of Zoology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, 700019, India b Department of Botany, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, 700019, India c Department of Zoology, Krishna Chandra College, University of Burdwan, Hetampur, Birbhum 731124, West Bengal, India highlights graphical abstract  Metal pollution alters oxidative bal- ance and affects mitochondrial en- zymes activity.  Metal exposure is likely to change the fatty acid composition of the carp muscle.  Muscle mitochondrial enzymes regulate fish flesh quality against metal stress.  Metal toxicity causes lipid peroxida- tion and subsequently alters carp muscle quality.  Metal exposure alters PUFA, MUFA, omega fatty acid contents in carp muscle. article info Article history: Received 22 February 2018 Received in revised form 9 May 2018 Accepted 18 May 2018 Available online 19 May 2018 Handling Editor: Jim Lazorchak Keywords: Indian major carps Metals Antioxidant enzymes Muscle mitochondrial enzymes Fatty acid Flesh quality abstract Current study aims to find interrelation between mitochondrial enzyme function and fatty acid profile in fish muscle and role of antioxidant agents to maintain their balance in response to metal accumulation. Fishes (Labeo rohita, Catla catla, Cirrhinus cirrhosus) were collected from two sites (Nalban Bheri and Diamond Harbour, India). Concentrations of metals (lead, cadmium, copper, nickel, zinc), enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant activity (malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione S-transferase), muscle enzyme activity (acetylcholines- terase, succinate dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase, Ca 2þ ATPase, AMP-deaminase, lipoamide reductase, cytochrome C oxidase, aldolase) and fatty acid composition in muscle tissues were analyzed. Metal concentrations were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in fish muscles from Nalban compared to those in Diamond Harbour. Increased activity of antioxidant enzymes was noted with diminished mitochon- drial enzymes activity and altered fatty acid composition in response to higher metal accumulation. Higher metal concentration in fish muscle of Nalban seems to significantly (P < 0.05) affect poly and monounsaturated fatty acid content, possibly due to oxidative damage and accumulation of hazardous reactive oxygen species (ROS) molecules. Changes in fatty acid contents following metal accumulation * Corresponding author. Department of Zoology, University of Calcutta, 35 Bal- lygunge Circular Road Kolkata, 700019 West Bengal, India. Tel.: þ91 9831189211. E-mail addresses: sumanbc76@gmail.com, sbczoo@caluniv.ac.in (S.B. Chakraborty). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Chemosphere journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/chemosphere https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.05.108 0045-6535/© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Chemosphere 207 (2018) 385e396