Pinheiro-da-Silva Jaquelinne, Luchiari Ana Carolina
Physiology and Behavior Department, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil.
Brain Behav. 2021 Jun;11(6):e02062. doi: 10.1002/brb3.2062. Epub 2021 May 3.
Embryonic exposure to ethanol leads to a condition of physical, behavioral, and cognitive deficiencies named fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). The most severe variations are in fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), which is easier to diagnose and not studied in animal models. On the other side, the pFAS (partial fetal alcohol syndrome) includes cases of alcohol-related congenital disabilities and neurodevelopmental disorder with an inconclusive diagnosis. In recent years, the zebrafish has become a valuable model to study FASD and its variations.
This study characterizes the zebrafish embryonic and larval development after low and moderate ethanol concentration exposure. Fish eggs were exposed to 0.0%, 0.25%, 0.5%, and 1.0% ethanol at 24 hr postfertilization, and embryonic development was observed every 8 hr up to 120 hpf. It evaluated movements, phenotypic abnormalities, hatching, cardiac function and heartbeat frequency, larvae length at 120 hpf, and the apoptotic cells' fluorescence stained with acridine orange.
Embryonic exposure to 0.5% and 1% ethanol presented reduced body size, decreased heartbeat rate, higher numbers of apoptotic cells, and hatching time differences.
Our results suggest any ethanol exposure during embryogenesis can be harmful and reinforces zebrafish as a suitable model for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD).
胚胎期暴露于乙醇会导致一种身体、行为和认知缺陷的状况，称为胎儿酒精谱系障碍（FASD）。最严重的变体是胎儿酒精综合征（FAS），其更容易诊断且未在动物模型中进行研究。另一方面，部分胎儿酒精综合征（pFAS）包括与酒精相关的先天性残疾和诊断不明确的神经发育障碍病例。近年来，斑马鱼已成为研究FASD及其变体的重要模型。
本研究描述了低浓度和中等浓度乙醇暴露后斑马鱼胚胎和幼体的发育情况。在受精后24小时，将鱼卵暴露于0.0%、0.25%、0.5%和1.0%的乙醇中，并在120小时胚胎发育阶段之前，每间隔8小时观察胚胎发育情况。评估了运动、表型异常、孵化、心脏功能和心跳频率、120小时胚胎发育阶段时幼体的长度，以及用吖啶橙染色的凋亡细胞的荧光情况。
胚胎期暴露于0.5%和1%乙醇中会出现体型减小、心率降低、凋亡细胞数量增加以及孵化时间差异。
我们的结果表明，胚胎发育期间的任何乙醇暴露都可能有害，并进一步证明斑马鱼是研究胎儿酒精谱系障碍（FASD）的合适模型。
