IMPACT OF CIRCADIAN RHYTHM DISRUPTION ON RED BLOOD CELL COUNT IN Danio rerio

The study focused on using Danio rerio as a model organism to study circadian rhythm.Circadian rhythm is a 24-hour sleep wake cycle that has a significant impact on an organism's mental, physical, and behavioural traits.Disruptions in circadian rhythm can lead to imbalance in human health.This study helps in future investigations on the complications related to blood pressure, breathlessness, and body immunity due to circadian rhythm disturbance.To disturb the circadian rhythm in Danio rerio, surface waves in the aquarium was created and exposed the fish to continuous artificial light for 96 hours.Every 24 hours, and estimated the melatonin levels to confirm the disturbance in the circadian rhythm and then estimated RBC count in the blood using a neubauer counting chamber.As the blood of zebrafish is less than 3% of its body weight, this was challenging and made an attempt to estimate RBCs in the model organism.Comparing the RBC count of the experimental fish with the control group (kept under ideal conditions), the researchers found a significant difference.Additionally, the RBC count was compared every 24 hours to monitor changes.The results showed a decrease in RBC count in the experimental group, along with stress and decreased breathing rate in Danio rerio.However, this study contributes to understanding the respiratory physiology of Danio rerio and provides valuable insights for future pharmacological research.