Untargeted lipidomics reveals the toxicity of bisphenol A bis(3-chloro-2- hydroxypropyl) ether and bisphenols A and F in zebrafish liver cells.

Given the opposing responses reported for bisphenol A (BPA) in terms of induction of obesogenic effects and impaired lipid metabolism, the increasing use of bisphenol F (BPF), and the relatively low information available regarding the effects of bisphenol A bis(3-chloro-2- hydroxypropyl) ether (BADGE·2HCl) in aquatic organisms, this work aims to use the zebrafish liver cell line (ZFL) as an alternative model to characterize the toxicity and the lipid metabolism disruptive potential of the selected compounds in fish. All three bisphenols increased intracellular levels of dihydroceramides and ether-triacylglycerides (ether-TGs), suggestive of inhibited cell growth. However, while BPA and BADGE·2HCl caused an increase of saturated and lower unsaturated TGs, BPF caused oxidative stress and the decrease of TGs containing polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Analysis by qPCR highlighted the up-regulation of the lipogenic genes scd and elovl6 by BPA and BPF in line with an increase of lipids containing saturated and monounsaturated FA and a decrease of lipids containing PUFAs. This study shows that BPA, BPF and BADGE·2HCl target lipid homeostasis in ZFL cells through different mechanisms, and highlights the higher lipotoxicity of BADGE·2HCl compared to BPA and BPF.