Use of zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a model for research in toxicological studies

Danio rerio, commonly known as zebrafish, is a freshwater aquarium fish and is native to parts of South Asia. It is considered an important organism for analyzing the noxious effects of toxicants and pollutants of the environment. In terms of the molecular signaling pathway, molecular properties, organ functions and structures, and neurogenesis, zebrafish are similar to certain other higher-order vertebrates. The 3Rs, refinement,reduction, and replacement in researchhavegradually evolved with time. The accumulation of toxicants in the environment and the human health conditions from exposure to toxicants present in the environment is a serious concern, and zebrafish serves as an excellent model to research such effects. The three Rs are met by zebrafish, larvae can also be used to discover harmful medication compounds, permitting safer compounds to be explored in model organisms and it could also be used to substitute certain toxicological testing.Also, because embryos are fertilized outside and are visible during the initial days of life, the early larval model of zebrafish enables flexibility to animal research study, subsequently reducing the number of animals employed in experiments.For various experimentation studies, the larva of the zebrafish is proved to be a useful model for the system.Thus, being a good test system, zebrafish are used in environmental health and safety studies.This review focuses on the toxicological studiesin zebrafish and outlines the toxicological studies done on zebrafish with arsenic and 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) as well as microplastic toxicity.

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Acute toxicity of 31 different nanoparticles to zebrafish (Danio rerio) tested in adulthood and in early life stages – comparative study

Interdisciplinary Toxicology ◽

10.2478/intox-2013-0012 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 67-73 ◽

Cited By ~ 74

Author(s):

Jevgenij A. Kovrižnych ◽

Ružena Sotníková ◽

Dagmar Zeljenková ◽

Eva Rollerová ◽

Elena Szabová ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Acute Toxicity ◽

Danio Rerio ◽

Early Life ◽

Health And Safety ◽

Mortality Data ◽

Life Stages ◽

Early Life Stages ◽

Environmental Health And Safety ◽

Silicon Compounds ◽

Hatching Time

Abstract At present, nanoparticles are beginning to influence our lives in many ways and understanding the environmental health and safety aspect of nanomaterials has become a crucial issue. The aim of the work was to assess and compare the acute toxicity of 31 different nanomaterials to fish mature individuals Danio rerio with that to fish early life stages on using evaluation of the 48- and 96- hour LC50 values. A further aim was to evaluate teratogenicity of the nanoparticles tested to fish eggs. The nanoparticles tested were: 8 pure metals, 10 metal oxides, 5 other metal compounds and their mixtures, 2 silicon compounds, 3 calcium compounds, and 3 carbon compounds. Using 48-h and 96-h tests of acute toxicity (according to OECD 203), we evaluated mortality data, LC50 values, occurrence of malformations, as well as hatching time. In our study, 6 kinds of nanoparticles - calcium oxide, copper, copper in the form of oxide and CuZnFe4O4, magnesium oxide, and nickel - caused cumulative mortality. Two kinds of nanoparticles - copper and silver - were toxic for fish with LC50 values of approximately 3 mg/L. We did not observe marked differences between the 48-hour and 96-hour acute toxicity LC50 values, yet the possibility to evaluate hatching time in the 96-h acute fish toxicity test seems to be an advantage against that of the 48-hour toxicity.

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Nanomaterial libraries and model organisms for rapid high-content analysis of nanosafety

National Science Review ◽

10.1093/nsr/nwx120 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 365-388 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Yiye Li ◽

Jing Wang ◽

Feng Zhao ◽

Bing Bai ◽

Guangjun Nie ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

High Throughput Screening ◽

Health And Safety ◽

Large Data ◽

Integrated Approach ◽

Safety Analysis ◽

Model Organisms ◽

Environmental Health And Safety ◽

Formidable Challenge ◽

Multiple Materials

Abstract Safety analysis of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) presents a formidable challenge regarding environmental health and safety, due to their complicated and diverse physicochemical properties. Although large amounts of data have been published regarding the potential hazards of these materials, we still lack a comprehensive strategy for their safety assessment, which generates a huge workload in decision-making. Thus, an integrated approach is urgently required by government, industry, academia and all others who deal with the safe implementation of nanomaterials on their way to the marketplace. The rapid emergence and sheer number of new nanomaterials with novel properties demands rapid and high-content screening (HCS), which could be performed on multiple materials to assess their safety and generate large data sets for integrated decision-making. With this approach, we have to consider reducing and replacing the commonly used rodent models, which are expensive, time-consuming, and not amenable to high-throughput screening and analysis. In this review, we present a ‘Library Integration Approach’ for high-content safety analysis relevant to the ENMs. We propose the integration of compositional and property-based ENM libraries for HCS of cells and biologically relevant organisms to be screened for mechanistic biomarkers that can be used to generate data for HCS and decision analysis. This systematic approach integrates the use of material and biological libraries, automated HCS and high-content data analysis to provide predictions about the environmental impact of large numbers of ENMs in various categories. This integrated approach also allows the safer design of ENMs, which is relevant to the implementation of nanotechnology solutions in the pharmaceutical industry.

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