Zebrafish in Toxicology and Environmental Health

Abstract

As manufacturing processes and development of new synthetic compounds increase to keep pace with the expanding global demand, environmental health, and the effects of toxicant exposure are emerging as critical public health concerns. Additionally, chemicals that naturally occur in the environment, such as metals, have profound effects on human and animal health. Many of these compounds are in the news: lead, arsenic, and endocrine disruptors such as bisphenol A have all been widely publicized as causing disease or damage to humans and wildlife in recent years. Despite the widespread appreciation that environmental toxins can be harmful, there is limited understanding of how many toxins cause disease. Zebrafish are at the forefront of toxicology research; this system has been widely used as a tool to detect toxins in water samples and to investigate the mechanisms of action of environmental toxins and their related diseases. The benefits of zebrafish for studying vertebrate development are equally useful for studying teratogens. Here, we review how zebrafish are being used both to detect the presence of some toxins as well as to identify how environmental exposures affect human health and disease. We focus on areas where zebrafish have been most effectively used in ecotoxicology and in environmental health, including investigation of exposures to endocrine disruptors, industrial waste byproducts, and arsenic.

The Current Understanding of Autophagy in Nanomaterial Toxicity and Its Implementation in Safety Assessment-Related Alternative Testing Strategies

“…Zebrafish constitute a well-established model that is often applied to study issues of development, disease, and environmental contamination [77][78][79][80]. They exhibit various advantages that make them suitable for studying toxicology [73,81]. Zebrafish are highly efficient models due to their high reproduction rates [81].…”

“…They exhibit various advantages that make them suitable for studying toxicology [73,81]. Zebrafish are highly efficient models due to their high reproduction rates [81]. Moreover, the maintenance of zebrafish is relatively inexpensive, with small tank requirements, rapid development, and transparent embryos.…”

Synthesizing the role of epigenetics in the response and adaptation of species to climate change in freshwater ecosystems

“…In fact, it has been used for experiments in different fields and bears the advantage of being a vigorous, clonable and eurytopic organism (Vogt, 2008(Vogt, , 2017Vogt et al, 2015). The zebrafish (Danio rerio) seems also to be a suitable vertebrate model for epigenetic research, particularly in development and disease studies (Detrich, Westerfield, & Zon, 2016; Martinez-Sales, Garc ıa-Xim enez, & Espin os, 2015; Mudbhary, & Sadler, 2011) although necessarily more representative of tropical ecosystems. This advanced position of zebrafish is unquestionably sustained by its representative use both in (eco)toxicological and biomedical research (e.g., Dai et al, 2014;Szabo et al, 2017), but its representativeness as a model in ecology and evolution can be challenged (Parichy, 2015).…”

Toxicological Risk Assessment of Emerging Nanomaterials: Cytotoxicity, Cellular Uptake, Effects on Biogenesis and Cell Organelle Activity, Acute Toxicity and Biodistribution of Oxide Nanoparticles

“…Given its many advantages, zebrafish is now a recognized model for toxicological and biomedical assays [74][75][76][77]. The main advantages of this species are rapid development, external fertilization, easy observation of all developmental stages, small size, transparency of the embryos and larvae, large number of embryos, ease of maintenance and close contact with surrounding medium (water) allowing easy interface with materials.…”