2025/02/23 by Yan Jin, Masanari Takamiya, Ding Zhang +8 · 1 voice
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Veterinary · Medicine · #Zebrafish Biomedical Research Applications #Animal testing and alternatives #Science, Research, and Medicine
paper · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2025.109349
openalex publication_date 2025/02/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
• Cisplatin dissolved in physiological NaCl solution instead of conventional E3 medium exerts decreased lethality. • The common solvent DMSO enhances cisplatin toxicity and bioavailability. • Cisplatin provokes edema formation only when administered by microinjection into the blood stream. • The higher toxicity of cisplatin compared to oxaliplatin and carboplatin in humans can be recapitulated in zebrafish embryos. Zebrafish are widely used not only as a model in ecotoxicology but also to study the potential impact of chemicals on human health. Typically, zebrafish are exposed to chemicals dissolved in egg water or other defined media, which is the standard routine for ecotoxicology testing. This straightforward exposure method is usually also employed to monitor adverse effects in zebrafish to predict potential hazards and modes of action in humans. Here, we compared different exposure media and studied the impact of salinity and solvents relevant to ecotoxicity testing. For comparison, toxicants also were directly injected into the bloodstream of zebrafish embryos, as this method better simulates the exposure scenario for assessing the adverse effects of drugs administered intravenously to patients. As model compounds we studied platinum-based anticancer drugs, which are known micropollutants, but also lead to severe side effects in humans. Striking differences in sensitivity and phenotypes, i.e. adverse outcomes, were observed dependent on the exposure route and media. The bioavailability of the platinum compounds was significantly altered in the different media and by the commonly used solvent DMSO. These findings highlight the relevance of the exposure route and media as well as of solvents to be considered when interpreting zebrafish studies in the field of ecotoxicology or in cross-species comparisons to predict effects on human health.