Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1 University Road, Tainan, 701, Taiwan.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1 University Road, Tainan, 701, Taiwan.
Sci Rep. 2020 Oct 1;10(1):16243. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-73455-9.
Food coloring is often used as a coloring agent in foods, medicines and cosmetics, and it was reported to have certain carcinogenic and mutagenic effects in living organisms. Investigation of physiological parameters using zebrafish is a promising methodology to understand disease biology and drug toxicity for various drug discovery on humans. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a well-acknowledged model organism with combining assets such as body transparency, small size, low cost of cultivation, and high genetic homology with humans and is used as a specimen tool for the in-vivo throughput screening approach. In addition, recent advances in microfluidics show a promising alternative for zebrafish manipulation in terms of drug administration and extensive imaging capability. This pilot work highlighted the design and development of a microfluidic detection platform for zebrafish larvae through investigating the effects of food coloring on cardiovascular functionality and pectoral fin swing ability. The zebrafish embryos were exposed to the Cochineal Red and Brilliant Blue FCF pigment solution in a concentration of (0.02‰, 0.2‰) cultured in the laboratory from the embryo stage to hatching and development until 9 days post fertilization (d.p.f.). In addition, zebrafish swimming behaviors in terms of pectoral fin beating towards the toxicity screening were further studied by visualizing the induced flow field. It was evidenced that Cochineal Red pigment at a concentration of 0.2‰ not only significantly affected the zebrafish pectoral fin swing behavior, but also significantly increased the heart rate of juvenile fish. The higher concentration of Brilliant Blue FCF pigment (0.2%) increased heart rate during early embryonic stages of zebrafish. However, zebrafish exposed to food coloring did not show any significant changes in cardiac output. The applications of this proposed platform can be further extended towards observing the neurobiological/hydrodynamic behaviors of zebrafish larvae for practical applications in drug tests.
食用色素通常被用作食品、药品和化妆品的着色剂，据报道，它在生物体中具有一定的致癌和致突变作用。使用斑马鱼研究生理参数是一种很有前途的方法，可以了解人类各种药物发现的疾病生物学和药物毒性。斑马鱼（Danio rerio）是一种公认的模式生物，具有身体透明、体型小、培养成本低、与人类遗传高度同源等优点，被用作体内高通量筛选方法的标本工具。此外，微流控技术的最新进展为斑马鱼的药物管理和广泛的成像能力提供了一种有前途的替代方法。这项初步工作重点介绍了通过研究食用色素对心血管功能和胸鳍摆动能力的影响，设计和开发用于斑马鱼幼虫的微流控检测平台。将斑马鱼胚胎暴露于胭脂红和亮蓝 FCF 颜料溶液中，浓度分别为（0.02‰、0.2‰），在实验室中从胚胎阶段培养到孵化和发育，直到受精后 9 天（d.p.f.）。此外，还通过可视化诱导流场进一步研究了斑马鱼在胸鳍拍打方面的游泳行为，以进行毒性筛选。有证据表明，浓度为 0.2‰的胭脂红颜料不仅显著影响了斑马鱼的胸鳍摆动行为，而且还显著增加了幼鱼的心率。较高浓度的亮蓝 FCF 颜料（0.2%）在斑马鱼胚胎早期阶段增加了心率。然而，食用色素暴露的斑马鱼在心脏输出方面没有显示出任何显著变化。该平台的应用可以进一步扩展到观察斑马鱼幼虫的神经生物学/流体动力学行为，以实际应用于药物测试。
