PUBLICATION

Maternal exposure to dietary uranium causes oxidative stress and thyroid disruption in zebrafish offspring

Authors
Xu, C., Gong, H., Niu, L., Li, T., Guo, H., Hu, C., Sun, X., Li, L., Liu, W.
ID
ZDB-PUB-231002-191
Date
2023
Source
Ecotoxicology and environmental safety   265: 115501115501 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Keywords
Aquatic toxicity, Endocrine disruption, Heavy metal, Maternal transfer, Zebrafish
MeSH Terms
  • Larva
  • Zebrafish/metabolism
  • Ecosystem
  • Humans
  • Maternal Exposure/adverse effects
  • Oxidative Stress
  • Thyroid Gland
  • Uranium*/metabolism
  • Uranium*/toxicity
  • Female
  • Endocrine Disruptors*/toxicity
  • Animals
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical*/metabolism
PubMed
37774545 Full text @ Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf.
Abstract
The contamination of uranium in aquatic ecosystems has raised growing global concern. However, the understanding of its chronic effects on aquatic organisms is limited, particularly with regards to transgenerational toxicity. In this study, we evaluated the maternal transfer risk of uranium using zebrafish. Sexually mature female zebrafish were exposed to 2 and 20 ng/g of uranium-spiked food for 28 days. The induced bioconcentration, thyroid disruption, and oxidative stress in both the adults (F0) and their embryos (F1) were further investigated. Element analysis showed that uranium was present in both F0 and F1, with higher concentrations observed in F1, indicating significant maternal offloading to the offspring. Meanwhile, an increased malformation and decreased swim speed were observed in the F1. Thyroid hormone analysis revealed significant decreases in the levels of triiodothyronine (T3) in both the F0 adults and F1 embryos, but thyroxine (T4) was not significantly affected. Additionally, the activities of antioxidant defenses, including catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), and the expression of glutathione (GSH) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were significantly altered in the F0 and F1 larvae at 120 hpf. The hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis, oxidative stress, and apoptosis-related gene transcription expression were also significantly affected in both generations. Taken together, these findings highlight the importance of considering maternal transfer in uranium risk assessments.
Genes / Markers
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping