Casarini Livio, Franchini Antonella, Malagoli Davide, Ottaviani Enzo
Department of Animal Biology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, via Campi 213/D 41100 Modena, Italy.
Toxicol Lett. 2007 Mar 8;169(2):145-51. doi: 10.1016/j.toxlet.2006.12.011. Epub 2007 Jan 12.
The Frog Embryo Teratogenesis Assay Xenopus (FETAX), is a screening assay using embryos at gastrula stage of the anuran Xenopus laevis to identify substances that may pose a developmental hazard in humans. The FETAX assay evaluates three parameters, i.e. mortality, delayed growth and embryo malformation. In the present investigation, the FETAX protocol was applied to the marine toxin okadaic acid (OA) and the experiments show that OA affects the above parameters in a dose-correlated manner. The morpho-functional modifications induced in embryo organs by OA were also studied. The nervous system, tail skeletal musculature, intestine and kidney appeared particularly damaged, with the former being the most sensitive. On the whole, various advantages emerge from using the FETAX assay: different parameters can be tested simultaneously, the indication of the presence of a potentially dangerous substance is rapid and the assay is a valid alternative to mammalian systems.
非洲爪蟾胚胎致畸试验（FETAX）是一种利用无尾目非洲爪蟾原肠胚期胚胎进行的筛选试验，用于识别可能对人类发育构成危害的物质。FETAX试验评估三个参数，即死亡率、生长延迟和胚胎畸形。在本研究中，将FETAX方案应用于海洋毒素冈田酸（OA），实验表明OA以剂量相关的方式影响上述参数。还研究了OA在胚胎器官中诱导的形态功能改变。神经系统、尾部骨骼肌、肠道和肾脏似乎尤其受损，其中前者最为敏感。总体而言，使用FETAX试验有各种优点：可以同时测试不同参数，能快速指示潜在危险物质的存在，并且该试验是哺乳动物系统的有效替代方法。
