Effects of chronic perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) at low concentration on morphometrics, gene expression, and fecundity in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Abstract

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a persistent, toxic, anthropogenic chemical recalcitrant to biodegradation. Based on previous studies in lower and higher vertebrates, it was hypothesized that chronic, sub-lethal, embryonic exposure to PFOA in zebrafish (Danio rerio) would adversely impact fish development, survival, and fecundity. Zebrafish embryo/sac-fry were water exposed to 2.0 or 0 nM PFOA from 3 to 120 hpf, and juvenile to adult cohorts were fed spiked food (8 pM) until 6 months. After chronic exposure, PFOA exposed fish were significantly smaller in total weight and length. Gene expression analysis found a significant decrease of transporters slco2b1, slco4a1, slco3a1 and tgfb1a, and a significant increase of slco1d1 expression. PFOA exposed fish produced significantly fewer eggs with reduced viability and developmental stage delay in F1. Chronic, low-dose exposure of zebrafish to PFOA significantly altered normal development, survival and fecundity and would likely impact wild fish population fitness in watersheds chronically exposed to PFOA.

β-Cyclodextrin Attenuates Perfluorooctanoic Acid Toxicity in the Zebrafish Embryo Model

“…Variability in lethal concentrations is presumably due to genetic differences of zebrafish lines used and/or other experimental conditions, and were not addressed further in the present study. Both reduced body size ( Figure 4 ) and locomotory effects ( Figure 5 ) have been, likewise, reported for PFOA-treated zebrafish embryos at sub-lethal concentrations [ 32 , 37 , 38 , 39 ]. Notably, these sub-lethal effects were observed in previous studies [ 38 , 39 ] at considerably lower (i.e., micro- to nanomolar) exposure concentrations, and, interestingly, effects extended into (following embryonic exposure) adult stages.…”

“…As such, the zebrafish embryo has been employed to look at a wide range of environmental contaminants in terms of acute and chronic toxicity [ 29 , 30 , 31 ]. Acute toxicological endpoints (e.g., embryotoxicity, teratogenicity, neurotoxicity), which are readily accessible in the zebrafish embryo model, are, furthermore, aligned with the reported health concerns associated with PFOA, and the system has, indeed, been used to evaluate toxicity of PFOA and related perfluorinated alkyl substances [ 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ].…”

Evaluation of Developmental Toxicity, Developmental Neurotoxicity, and Tissue Dose in Zebrafish Exposed to GenX and Other PFAS

“…In humans, PFAS exposure has been associated with reduced birth weight (Apelberg et al 2007;Fei et al 2007), although weak associations with low birth weight or conflicting data have also been reported (Manzano-Salgado et al 2017;Shoaff et al 2018;Whitworth et al 2012). In animal studies, early life stage exposure to PFOS or PFOA have been linked to developmental toxicity in chickens and mice (Jiang et al 2012;Tucker et al 2015), immunotoxicity in mice (reviewed by DeWitt et al 2009), and developmental (Huang et al 2010;Padilla et al 2012;Truong et al 2014) and reproductive toxicity in zebrafish (Jantzen et al 2017).…”

The Cyclodextrin-Perfluorinated Surfactant Host-Guest Complex: Fundamental Studies for Potential Environmental Remediation and Therapeutic Applications

“…Variability in lethal concentrations is presumably due to genetic differences of zebrafish lines used and/or other experimental conditions, and were not addressed further in the present study. Both reduced body size and locomotory effects have been, likewise, reported for PFOA-treated zebrafish embryos at sub-lethal concentrations (Hagenaars et al 2011, Jantzen et al 2016a, Jantzen et al 2016b, Jantzen et al 2017. Notably, these sub-lethal effects were observed in previous studies (Jantzen et al 2016b, Jantzen et al 2017 at considerably lower (i.e., micro-to nanomolar) exposure concentrations, and effects extended into (following embryonic exposure) adult stages.…”

“…As such, the zebrafish embryo has been employed to look at a wide range of environmental contaminants in terms of acute and chronic toxicity (Hinton et al 2005, Scholz et al 2008, Sarmah and Marrs 2016. Acute toxicological endpoints (e.g., embryotoxicity, teratogenicity, neurotoxicity), which are readily accessible in the zebrafish embryo model, are aligned with the reported health concerns associated with PFOA, and the system has been used to evaluate toxicity of PFOA and related PFASs (Hagenaars et al 2011, Zheng et al 2011, Hagenaars et al 2013, Ding et al 2013, Ulhaq et al 2015, Jantzen et al 2016a, Jantzen et al 2016b, Jantzen et al 2017, Rainieri et al 2017).…”