PUBLICATION

Hepatotoxicity evaluation of Euphorbia kansui on zebrafish larvae in vivo

Authors
Zhao, C., Jia, Z., Li, E., Zhao, X., Han, T., Tian, J., Li, F., Zou, D., Lin, R.
ID
ZDB-PUB-190528-31
Date
2019
Source
Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology   62: 152959 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Keywords
Euphorbia kansui, QT-PCR, liver injury, metabolomics, western blot, zebrafish
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Apoptosis/drug effects
  • Cell Death/drug effects
  • Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury/pathology*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Euphorbia
  • Female
  • Hepatocytes/drug effects
  • Humans
  • Larva
  • Male
  • Medicine, Chinese Traditional
  • Metabolome/drug effects*
  • Metabolomics
  • Plant Roots/toxicity
  • Zebrafish
PubMed
31132752 Full text @ Phytomedicine
Abstract
Euphorbia kansui is effective in treating various diseases, such as ascites and edema, but its liver toxicity is a major obstacle in its wide use in the clinic. However, further investigations have suggested that Euphorbia kansui can cause liver injury.
The study aims to investigate the effect of Euphorbia kansui exposure on zebrafish, and explain the underlying toxicity mechanisms from a comprehensive perspective.
The 4dpf zebrafish larvae were exposed to Euphorbia kansui at a sub-lethal concentration.
We evaluated the effect of Euphorbia kansui on the ultrastructure and function of the liver, apoptosis of liver cells by PCR and western blot, and metabolic profile by GC-MS based on sub-lethal concentrations.
Our results suggested Euphorbia kansui could lead to liver injury and significant alteration of the metabolomics of the zebrafish larvae in sub-lethal concentration conditions. It could also induce alterations in liver microstructure, hepatic function, gene expression and protein associated with the apoptosis process, as well as endogenous metabolism. KEGG pathway analysis identified some biological processes on the basis of different metabolisms and their associated processes especially for amino acid metabolism.
The results bring us closer to an in-depth understanding of the toxic effects of Euphorbia kansui on zebrafish liver, which will be significantly helpful in effectively guiding safer clinical application of this herb in the clinic. Furthermore, our results also showed the zebrafish model is reliable for evaluation of Euphorbia kansui extract hepatotoxicity and as a methodological reference for the evaluation of Traditional Chinese Medicine with underlying liver toxicity.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping