Laboratório de Pesquisa em Fármacos, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Amapá, Macapá, AP, 68902-280, Brazil.
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Inovação Farmacêutica, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Colegiado de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Amapá, Macapá, AP, Brazil.
Inflammopharmacology. 2018 Feb;26(1):273-284. doi: 10.1007/s10787-017-0362-z. Epub 2017 May 17.
Zebrafish is an excellent model organism for studying tissue alterations caused by Bothrops alternatus venom (BAV) and for screening new anti-venom drugs. To study tissue alterations following exposure to BAV and the roles that glucocorticoids play in these tissue reactions, zebrafish were randomly divided into five groups: the free injection control group (FIC), the phosphate-buffered saline injection control group (PIC), the venom injected group (VI), the group treated with dexamethasone 1 h before venom injection (D1hBVI) and the group treated with dexamethasone 1 h after venom injection (D1hAVI). The concentration of BAV injected was 0.13 mg/mL and each fish received an injection of 20 μL. Body weight measurements and histopathological characteristics of the gills, kidneys, liver, and intestine were determined. Histopathological analyses showed necrosis, inflammation and weight gain in animals that received BAV. The histological alteration indices of the gills, liver, kidneys, and intestines were statistically higher in the animal groups treated with BAV. These alteration indices were lower in the D1hBVI and D1hAVI groups compared to the group treated with BAV alone. The D1hBVI group is presented with minor alterations. A significant difference in the histological alterations index was observed in the intestinal tissue of the FIC group compared to the PIC group. Cumulatively, zebrafish may serve as a useful biomarker for alterations induced by BAV. Interestingly, dexamethasone reduced the damage caused by BAV in the organs studied, which suggests that zebrafish might be useful for screening new drugs that can mitigate tissue damage caused by snakebites.
斑马鱼是研究矛头蝮蛇（Bothrops alternatus）毒液（BAV）引起的组织改变以及筛选新型抗蛇毒药物的理想模型生物。为了研究接触 BAV 后组织的改变以及糖皮质激素在这些组织反应中的作用，将斑马鱼随机分为五组：自由注射对照组（FIC）、磷酸盐缓冲盐水注射对照组（PIC）、毒液注射组（VI）、毒液注射前 1 小时给予地塞米松组（D1hBVI）和毒液注射后 1 小时给予地塞米松组（D1hAVI）。注射的 BAV 浓度为 0.13mg/mL，每条鱼注射 20μL。测量体重和鳃、肾、肝和肠的组织病理学特征。组织病理学分析显示，接受 BAV 注射的动物出现坏死、炎症和体重增加。接受 BAV 治疗的动物的鳃、肝、肾和肠的组织改变指数在统计学上更高。与单独接受 BAV 治疗的组相比，D1hBVI 和 D1hAVI 组的这些改变指数较低。D1hBVI 组的改变较小。与 PIC 组相比，FIC 组肠组织的组织改变指数有显著差异。总之，斑马鱼可能作为 BAV 引起的改变的有用生物标志物。有趣的是，地塞米松减少了 BAV 对研究器官造成的损害，这表明斑马鱼可能有助于筛选可以减轻蛇咬伤引起的组织损伤的新型药物。
