g Pyrazinamide (PZA) is an essential antitubercular drug, but little is still known about its hepatotoxicity potential. This study examined the effects of PZA exposure on zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae and the mechanisms underlying its hepatotoxicity. A transgenic line of zebrafish larvae that expressed enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) in the liver was incubated with 1, 2.5, and 5 mM PZA from 72 h postfertilization (hpf). Different endpoints such as mortality, morphology changes in the size and shape of the liver, histological changes, transaminase analysis and apoptosis, markers of oxidative and genetic damage, as well as the expression of certain genes were selected to evaluate PZA-induced hepatotoxicity. Our results confirm the manner of PZA dose-dependent hepatotoxicity. PZA was found to induce marked injury in zebrafish larvae, such as liver atrophy, elevations of transaminase levels, oxidative stress, and hepatocyte apoptosis. To further understand the mechanism behind PZA-induced hepatotoxicity, changes in gene expression levels in zebrafish larvae exposed to PZA for 72 h postexposure (hpe) were determined. The results of this study demonstrated that PZA decreased the expression levels of liver fatty acid binding protein (L-FABP) and its target gene, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ā£ (PPAR-ā£), and provoked more severe oxidative stress and hepatitis via the upregulation of inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-ā£) and transforming growth factor ā¤ (TGF-ā¤). These findings suggest that L-FABP-mediated PPAR-ā£ downregulation appears to be a hepatotoxic response resulting from zebrafish larva liver cell apoptosis, and L-FABP can be used as a biomarker for the early detection of PZA-induced liver damage in zebrafish larvae. P yrazinamide (PZA) is an important first-line drug in tuberculosis (TB) combination chemotherapy and is used during the initial 2 months of treatment for its remarkable sterilizing activity (1). Hepatotoxicity is the major adverse effect of PZA and usually occurs in the first 2 months of treatment (2). Previously reported studies showed a high incidence of hepatotoxicity with a high dosage of 40 to 70 mg/kg of body weight and a low rate of liver injury with a daily dose of Ļ½35 mg/kg (3). Although a reduction of the clinical dose considerably decreased the rate of PZA-induced hepatotoxic side effects, PZA is still considered to induce higher hepatotoxicity than other first-line antituberculosis drugs (4, 5). PZA hepatotoxicity cannot be ignored; however, little is known about the exact mechanism of PZA-induced hepatotoxicity.Previous research, by using microarray analyses and proteomics studies, found that metabolism, inflammation, and oxidative stress pathways were probably involved in PZA-induced hepatotoxicity (6, 7). A recent investigation showed that the metabolite 5-hydroxypyrazinoic acid (5-OH-PA) is responsible for PZAinduced hepatotoxicity (8). Despite an increasing number of researchers who are trying to reevaluate the hepatotoxic potentia...