No abstract

No abstract

Thrombosis is a leading cause of death and the development of effective and safe therapeutic agents for thrombotic diseases has been proven challenging. In this study, taking advantage of the transparency of larval zebrafish, we developed a larval zebrafish thrombosis model for drug screening and efficacy assessment. Zebrafish at 2 dpf (days post fertilization) were treated with phenylhydrazine (PHZ) and a testing drug for 24 h. Tested drugs were administered into the zebrafish either by direct soaking or circulation microinjection. Antithrombotic efficacy was quantitatively evaluated based on our previously patented technology characterized as an image analysis of the heart red blood cells stained with O-dianisidine staining. Zebrafish at 2 dpf treated with PHZ at a concentration of 1.5 μM for a time period of 24 h were determined as the optimum conditions for the zebrafish thrombosis model development. Induced thrombosis in zebrafish was visually confirmed under a dissecting stereomicroscope and quantified by the image assay. All 6 human antithrombotic drugs (aspirin, clopidogrel, diltiazem hydrochloride injection, xuanshuantong injection, salvianolate injection, and astragalus injection) showed significant preventive and therapeutic effects on zebrafish thrombosis (p < 0.05, p < 0.01, & p < 0.001) in this zebrafish thrombosis model. The larval zebrafish thrombosis model developed and validated in this study could be used for in vivo thrombosis studies and for rapid screening and efficacy assessment of antithrombotic drugs.

Heart failure is a leading cause of death and the development of effective and safe therapeutic agents for heart failure has been proven challenging. In this study, taking advantage of larval zebrafish, we developed a zebrafish heart failure model for drug screening and efficacy assessment. Zebrafish at 2 dpf (days postfertilization) were treated with verapamil at a concentration of 200 μM for 30 min, which were determined as optimum conditions for model development. Tested drugs were administered into zebrafish either by direct soaking or circulation microinjection. After treatment, zebrafish were randomly selected and subjected to either visual observation and image acquisition or record videos under a Zebralab Blood Flow System. The therapeutic effects of drugs on zebrafish heart failure were quantified by calculating the efficiency of heart dilatation, venous congestion, cardiac output, and blood flow dynamics. All 8 human heart failure therapeutic drugs (LCZ696, digoxin, irbesartan, metoprolol, qiliqiangxin capsule, enalapril, shenmai injection, and hydrochlorothiazide) showed significant preventive and therapeutic effects on zebrafish heart failure (p < 0.05, p < 0.01, and p < 0.001) in the zebrafish model. The larval zebrafish heart failure model developed and validated in this study could be used for in vivo heart failure studies and for rapid screening and efficacy assessment of preventive and therapeutic drugs.

No abstract

These results suggest that larval zebrafish motility model developed here is a useful tool for whole-animal in vivo GI transit studies and for assessing prokinetic drugs.

Abstract:Radix Sophorae tonkinensis (RST) is a widely used herb in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for treating infectious and inflammatory diseases. However, the toxicity data for RST are limited. The aim of this work is to assess and compare the toxicity of the whole RST extract and its five active fractions using the zebrafish model. Five active fractions of RST were prepared using five different types of solvents, which included dealkalized water, ethanol, n-butyl ethanol, dichloromethane, and diethyl ether. The chemical profiles of the active fractions were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and the toxicity observed in the zebrafish model was confirmed using mouse models. In the zebrafish model, cardiovascular toxicity was observed for the fraction extracted using diethyl ether, and hepatotoxicity was observed for the whole RST extract and the fractions extracted using water and ethanol, whereas both cardiovascular and hepatic toxicities were observed for the fractions extracted using n-butyl ethanol and dichloromethane. The hepatotoxicity of the fractions extracted using n-butyl ethanol and dichloromethane was also observed in mice. Our findings provide the toxicity data for RST and its five active fractions through modeling in a zebrafish, and indicate that the different fractions may each have a different toxicity, which is helpful for the optimal use of RST in clinical practice.

Olaquindox (OLA) has been widely used as an animal feed additive in China for decades; however, its toxicity and toxic mechanisms have not been well investigated. In this study, the developmental neurotoxicity and toxic mechanisms of OLA were evaluated in zebrafish. Zebrafish embryos were exposed to different concentrations of OLA (25-1,000 mg/L) from 6 to 120 hours post fertilization (hpf). OLA exposure resulted in many abnormal phenotypes in zebrafish, including shortened body length, notochord degeneration, spinal curvature, brain apoptosis, damage of axon and peripheral motor neuron, and hepatotoxicity. Interestingly, OLA increased zebrafish spontaneous tail coiling, while reduced locomotor capacity. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) showed that the expression levels of nine marker genes for nervous system functions or development, namely, α1-tubulin, glial fibrillary acidic protein (gfap), myelin basic protein (mbp), synapsinII a (syn2a), sonic hedgehog a (shha), encoding HuC (elavl3), mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor (manf) growth associated protein 43 (gap43), and acetylcholinesterase (ache) were all down-regulated significantly in zebrafish after treated with OLA. Besides, the antiapoptotic and pro-apoptotic genes bcl-2/bax ratio was reduced. These results show that OLA exposure could cause severe developmental neurotoxicity in the early stages of zebrafish life and OLA might induce neurotoxicity by inhibiting the expression of neuro-developmental genes and promoting apoptosis.