A Mixture of Persistent Organic Pollutants and Perfluorooctanesulfonic Acid Induces Similar Behavioural Responses, but Different Gene Expression Profiles in Zebrafish Larvae.
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are widespread in the environment and some may be neurotoxic. As we are exposed to complex mixtures of POPs, we aimed to investigate how a POP mixture based on Scandinavian human blood data affects behaviour and neurodevelopment during early life in zebrafish. Embryos/larvae were exposed to a series of sub-lethal doses and behaviour was examined at 96 h post fertilization (hpf). In order to determine the sensitivity window to the POP mixture, exposure models of 6 to 48 and 48 to 96 hpf were used. The expression of genes related to neurological development was also assessed. Results indicate that the POP mixture increases the swimming speed of larval zebrafish following exposure between 48 to 96 hpf. This behavioural effect was associated with the perfluorinated compounds, and more specifically with perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). The expression of genes related to the stress response, GABAergic, dopaminergic, histaminergic, serotoninergic, cholinergic systems and neuronal maintenance, were altered. However, there was little overlap in those genes that were significantly altered by the POP mixture and PFOS. Our findings show that the POP mixture and PFOS can have a similar effect on behaviour, yet alter the expression of genes relevant to neurological development differently.
Department of Basic Sciences and Aquatic Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. BOX 8146, Dep 0033, Oslo, Norway. abdolrahman.khezri@nmbu.no.
Abdolrahman
A
Khezri
Department of Production Animal Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. BOX 8146, Dep 0033, Oslo, Norway. thomas.fraser@nmbu.no.
Thomas W K
TW
Fraser
Department of Basic Sciences and Aquatic Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. BOX 8146, Dep 0033, Oslo, Norway. rasoul.nourizadeh-lillabadi@nmbu.no.
Rasoul
R
Nourizadeh-Lillabadi
Department of Basic Sciences and Aquatic Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. BOX 8146, Dep 0033, Oslo, Norway. jorke.kamstra@nmbu.no.
Jorke H
JH
Kamstra
Department of Food Safety and Infection Biology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. BOX 8146, Dep 0033, Oslo, Norway. vidar.berg@nmbu.no.
Vidar
V
Berg
Department of Basic Sciences and Aquatic Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. BOX 8146, Dep 0033, Oslo, Norway. karin.zimmer@nmbu.no.
Karin E
KE
Zimmer
Department of Production Animal Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. BOX 8146, Dep 0033, Oslo, Norway. erik.ropstad@nmbu.no.
Erik
E
Ropstad
D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005306:Fertilization; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000009:adverse effects*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D007814:Larva / Q000187:drug effects; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013550:Swimming; D059467:Transcriptome; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000235:genetics
D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids; D005466:Fluorocarbons; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C076994:perfluorooctane sulfonic acid
PFOS; behavioural; neurotoxicity; persistent organic pollutants; zebrafish larvae