title: Extremely low-frequency magnetic fields induce developmental toxicity and apoptosis in zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos.
abstract: Extremely low-frequency (ELF) magnetic field (MF), as a widespread ecological factor, has an influence on all living beings. In the present study, biological effects of ELF-MF on the development of zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos were investigated. Fertilized embryos were divided into seven groups as control, sham, and five experimental groups. Embryos of experimental groups were continuously exposed to 50-Hz sinusoidal MF with intensities of 30, 100, 200, 400, and 800 μT for 96 h. The sham group was treated as the experimental groups, but without any ELF-MF exposure. The control group was not subjected to anything. The results showed that ELF-MF exposure caused delayed hatching and decreased heart rate at the early developmental stages of zebrafish embryos, whereas no significant differences in embryo mortality and abnormality were observed. Moreover, acridine orange staining assays showed notable signals of apoptosis mainly in the ventral fin and spinal column. The transcription of apoptosis-related genes (caspase-3, caspase-9) was significantly upregulated in ELF-MF-exposed embryos. In conclusion, the overall results demonstrated that ELF-MF exposure has detrimental effects on the embryonic development of zebrafish by affecting the hatching, decreasing the heart rate, and inducing apoptosis, although such effects were not mortal threat. The results also indicate that zebrafish embryos can serve as a reliable model to investigate the biological effect of ELF-MF.
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xingfa
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Keran
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Miao
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Hongjuan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000528:radiation effects*; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000528:radiation effects*; D060526:Magnetic Fields / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015027:Zebrafish