Abstract
In the modern world, access to pharmaceuticals such as antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) and antibiotics have improved the quality of life of millions of peoples living with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. A small portion of these medications are absorbed by the human body, while the majority is transported to sewerage treatment plants. These pharmaceuticals have made their way into aquatic environments in recent years due to ineffective wastewater treatment plants, resulting in aquatics animals such as fish being unintentionally exposed to these drugs. One of the most detected ARV drugs in African systems is nevirapine (NVP), a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) used in HIV treatment programmes used to prevent mother to child HIV transmission. Since people living with HIV are immunocompromised, ARVs are administered together with a broad-spectrum antibiotic composed of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and trimethoprim (TMP) to prevent opportunistic infections. Due to their affordability, SMX and TMP are used in various sectors such as aquaculture, agriculture, and public health, placing them amongst the most prescribed and consumed antimicrobial agents worldwide. The presence of SMX and TMP in aquatic environments is alarming because they can cause non-target organisms to be resistant to specific antibiotics, thus making them vulnerable to treatable infections. Although the consumption of NVP, SMX and TMP is beneficial to human health, constant exposure or consumption of these pharmaceuticals is associated with severe liver damage, which can have detrimental impacts on the wellbeing of indigenous non-target organisms. Haematological parameters can be used as biological indicators to investigate the signs of stress that precede hepatotoxicity...
M.Sc. (Zoology)