BASF SE, Experimental Toxicology and Ecology, 67056, Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany; University of Barcelona, Research Group in Toxicology-GRET, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
BASF SE, Experimental Toxicology and Ecology, 67056, Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany.
Chem Biol Interact. 2023 Sep 1;382:110565. doi: 10.1016/j.cbi.2023.110565. Epub 2023 May 24.
A crucial component of a substance registration and regulation is the evaluation of human prenatal developmental toxicity. Current toxicological tests are based on mammalian models, but these are costly, time consuming and may pose ethical concerns. The zebrafish embryo has evolved as a promising alternative model to study developmental toxicity. However, the implementation of the zebrafish embryotoxicity test is challenged by lacking information on the relevance of observed morphological alterations in fish for human developmental toxicity. Elucidating the mechanism of toxicity could help to overcome this limitation. Through LC-MS/MS and GC-MS metabolomics, we investigated whether changes to the endogenous metabolites can indicate pathways associated with developmental toxicity. To this aim, zebrafish embryos were exposed to different concentrations of 6-propyl-2-thiouracil (PTU), a compound known to induce developmental toxicity. The reproducibility and the concentration-dependence of the metabolome response and its association with morphological alterations were studied. Major morphological findings were reduced eye size, and other craniofacial anomalies; major metabolic changes included increased tyrosine, pipecolic acid and lysophosphatidylcholine levels, decreased methionine levels, and disturbance of the 'Phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis' pathway. This pathway, and the changes in tyrosine and pipecolic acid levels could be linked to the mode of action of PTU, i.e., inhibition of thyroid peroxidase (TPO). The other findings suggested neurodevelopmental impairments. This proof-of-concept study demonstrated that metabolite changes in zebrafish embryos are robust and provide mechanistic information associated with the mode of action of PTU.
物质注册和监管的一个关键组成部分是评估人类产前发育毒性。目前的毒理学测试基于哺乳动物模型,但这些模型成本高、耗时且可能存在伦理问题。斑马鱼胚胎已经进化为研究发育毒性的有前途的替代模型。然而,由于缺乏关于鱼类观察到的形态改变与人类发育毒性相关性的信息,斑马鱼胚胎毒性测试的实施受到挑战。阐明毒性机制可能有助于克服这一限制。通过 LC-MS/MS 和 GC-MS 代谢组学,我们研究了内源性代谢物的变化是否可以指示与发育毒性相关的途径。为此,我们将斑马鱼胚胎暴露于不同浓度的 6-丙基-2-硫代尿嘧啶(PTU)中,PTU 是一种已知会引起发育毒性的化合物。研究了代谢组响应的重现性和浓度依赖性及其与形态改变的相关性。主要的形态学发现是眼睛变小和其他颅面异常;主要的代谢变化包括酪氨酸、哌可酸和溶血磷脂酰胆碱水平升高、蛋氨酸水平降低以及“苯丙氨酸、酪氨酸和色氨酸生物合成”途径的紊乱。该途径以及酪氨酸和哌可酸水平的变化可能与 PTU 的作用模式有关,即甲状腺过氧化物酶(TPO)的抑制。其他发现表明神经发育受损。这项概念验证研究表明,斑马鱼胚胎中的代谢物变化是稳健的,并提供了与 PTU 作用模式相关的机制信息。