title: Developmental toxicity of cypermethrin in embryo-larval stages of zebrafish.
abstract: Cypermethrin, a type II pyrethroid insecticide, is widely used throughout the world in agriculture, forestry, horticulture and homes. Though the neurotoxicity of cypermethrin has been thoroughly studied in adult rodents, little is so far available regarding the developmental toxicity of cypermethrin to fish in early life stages. To explore the potential developmental toxicity of cypermethrin, 4-h post-fertilization (hpf) zebrafish embryos were exposed to various concentrations of cypermethrin (0, 25, 50, 100, 200 and 400 μg L⁻¹) until 96 h. Among a suite of morphological abnormalities, the unique phenotype curvature was observed at concentrations as low as 25 μg L⁻¹. Studies revealed that 400 μg L⁻¹ cypermethrin significantly increased malondialdehyde production. In addition, activity of antioxidative enzymes including superoxide dismutase and catalase were significantly induced in zebrafish larvae in a concentration-dependent manner. To further investigate the toxic effects of cypermethrin on fish, acridine orange (AO) staining was performed at 400 μg L⁻¹ cypermethrin and the result showed notable signs of apoptosis mainly in the nervous system. Cypermethrin also down-regulated ogg1 and increased p53 gene expression as well as the caspase-3 activity. Our results demonstrate that cypermethrin was able to induce oxidative stress and produce apoptosis through the involvement of caspases in zebrafish embryos. In this study, we investigated the developmental toxicity of cypermethrin using zebrafish embryos, which could be helpful in fully understanding the potential mechanisms of cypermethrin exposure during embryogenesis and also suggested that zebrafish could serve as an ideal model for studying developmental toxicity of environmental contaminants.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Institute of Toxicology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China.
authors.forename: Xiangguo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Aihua
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Guixiang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Di
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: Yankai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Chuncheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Shoulin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xinru
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000187:drug effects; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D023381:Endpoint Determination; D007814:Larva / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000378:metabolism; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010573:Pesticide Residues / Q000633:toxicity*; D011722:Pyrethrins / Q000633:toxicity*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D023382:Toxicity Tests, Acute / Q000379:methods*; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000187:drug effects; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D010573:Pesticide Residues; D011722:Pyrethrins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014867:Water; C017160:cypermethrin; D008315:Malondialdehyde; D053148:Caspase 3