Fluoxetine chronic exposure affects growth, behavior and tissue structure of zebrafish

Chronic Effects of Fluoxetine on Danio rerio: A Biochemical and Behavioral Perspective

“…These studies indicate that fluoxetine decreases stress levels and increases fish exploratory behavior, with longer swimming periods at the top of the tank. In addition, there is also a decrease in freezing, lower latency to enter the top area, and an increase in the number of entries into the top area [5,9,[14][15][16]49,51,[56][57][58]88]. All these parameters indicate that fluoxetine reduces anxiety and stress levels in the fish brain system, resulting in more relaxed behavior.…”

“…Thus, an increase in the consumption of antidepressants is expected and will consequently lead to increased environmental levels and potential effects to biota present in an aquatic environment, the final destination of environmental pollutants. Fluoxetine, known to be a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), is generally prescribed for the treatment of human depression, anxiety, compulsive behavior, and eating disorders [2][3][4][5][6][7]. This drug is known to act at the central nervous system, blocking the serotonin transport, leading to its accumulation in the synaptic cleft [4,5,[8][9][10][11][12][13], allowing an attenuation of anxiety and depressive symptoms (anxiolytic effect) [12,14].…”

“…Fluoxetine, known to be a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), is generally prescribed for the treatment of human depression, anxiety, compulsive behavior, and eating disorders [2][3][4][5][6][7]. This drug is known to act at the central nervous system, blocking the serotonin transport, leading to its accumulation in the synaptic cleft [4,5,[8][9][10][11][12][13], allowing an attenuation of anxiety and depressive symptoms (anxiolytic effect) [12,14]. Serotonin (5-HT) is a neurotransmitter that has a fundamental role in regulating the development of the brain and spinal cord and, during this development, acts as an important neurotrophic factor in neuronal proliferation, differentiation, axonal growth, migration, and synaptogenesis [15,16].…”

“…In the freshwater environment, concentrations of fluoxetine have been detected at levels ranging from 0.0004 to 3.645 µg/L in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31], 0.0005 to 0.056 µg/L in surface waters and groundwaters [29,[31][32][33][34][35][36][37] and, for drinking water, the levels vary between 0.0005 and 0.0008 µg/L [38,39]. Previous studies have demonstrated that fluoxetine can be toxic to fish, with exposure resulting in changes at different biological levels, from gene transcription, neurotransmission markers, enzymatic activities (e.g., oxidative stress, metabolism), hormone levels, reproductive processes, and accumulation in various tissues (e.g., brain and liver), resulting in a severe change in the histology of these organs [4][5][6][7]10,11,14,[40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48]. In addition, this pharmaceutical can cause changes in behavior (e.g., locomotor activity, stress response, feeding, aggression, social and anti-predatory behavior) [4][5][6][7]…”

“…Previous studies have demonstrated that fluoxetine can be toxic to fish, with exposure resulting in changes at different biological levels, from gene transcription, neurotransmission markers, enzymatic activities (e.g., oxidative stress, metabolism), hormone levels, reproductive processes, and accumulation in various tissues (e.g., brain and liver), resulting in a severe change in the histology of these organs [4][5][6][7]10,11,14,[40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48]. In addition, this pharmaceutical can cause changes in behavior (e.g., locomotor activity, stress response, feeding, aggression, social and anti-predatory behavior) [4][5][6][7][8][9]11,15,16,45,[49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60].…”