The environmental toxicants such as copper are known to affect vital organ especially liver.
This study examined the effects of copper sulfate (CuSO4) on the liver morphological structure
of P. javanicus. The untreated control, 0.1 and 0.3 mg/L CuSO4 treated groups displayed normal
polygonal structure of the hepatocyte. However, at the concentrations of 0.5, 1.0 and 5.0 mg/L
CuSO4, the hepatostructure was significantly affected, as shown by the increasing number of
dilation and congestion of sinusoids, vacuolation, macrophage activities and peliosis. The
damage level and HSI value were increased while the number of hepatic nuclei per mm2 was
decreased with the increasing of copper concentration. In conclusion, this study shows that the
degree of liver damage in P.javanicus is dependent to the dose exposure.