Department of Biological Sciences and Advanced Environmental Research Institute, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas 76203, United States.
Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A0C5, Canada.
Environ Sci Technol. 2020 Mar 3;54(5):2843-2850. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.9b07658. Epub 2020 Feb 19.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present in crude oil are known to impair visual development in fish. However, the underlying mechanism of PAH-induced toxicity to the visual system of fish is not understood. Embryonic zebrafish () at 4 h post fertilization were exposed to weathered crude oil and assessed for visual function using an optokinetic response, with subsequent samples taken for immunohistochemistry and gene expression analysis. Cardiotoxicity was also assessed by measuring the heart rate, stroke volume, and cardiac output, as cardiac performance has been proposed to be a contributing factor to eye-associated malformations following oil exposure. Larvae exposed to the highest concentrations of crude oil (89.8 μg/L) exhibited an increased occurrence of bradycardia, though no changes in stroke volume or cardiac output were observed. However, genes important in eye development and phototransduction were downregulated in oil-exposed larvae, with an increased occurrence of cellular apoptosis, reduced neuronal connection, and reduced optokinetic behavioral response in zebrafish larvae.
多环芳烃（PAHs）存在于原油中，已知会损害鱼类的视觉发育。然而，PAH 对鱼类视觉系统毒性的潜在机制尚不清楚。受精后 4 小时的胚胎斑马鱼 () 暴露于风化原油中，并通过视动反应评估视觉功能，随后进行免疫组织化学和基因表达分析。还通过测量心率、stroke volume 和心输出量来评估心脏毒性，因为有人提出心脏功能是暴露于石油后与眼睛相关的畸形的一个促成因素。暴露于最高浓度原油（89.8 μg/L）的幼虫表现出心动过缓的发生率增加，尽管没有观察到 stroke volume 或心输出量的变化。然而，在暴露于石油的幼虫中，与眼睛发育和光转导有关的重要基因下调，斑马鱼幼虫的细胞凋亡发生率增加，神经元连接减少，视动行为反应减少。
