Endocrine-active compound evaluation: Qualitative and quantitative histomorphological assessment of zebrafish gonads after bisphenol-A exposure
Author
Molina López, Ana María
Lora-Benítez, Antonio Jesús
Blanco, Alfonso
García-Monterde, J.
Ayala-Soldado, Nahúm
Moyano Salvago, M. Rosario
Publisher
ElsevierDate
2013Subject
Bisphenol-AEndocrine-disruption
Zebrafish
Atretic follicles
Histomorpholog
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Show full item recordAbstract
There is great social concern about the risk involved from exposure to BPA as an endocrine disrupter in
humans, as well as the possible repercussion of this chemical on the environment. In this study, the
short-term effects of BPA at a gonadal level were assessed by means of different biomarkers in a model
animal organism in vogue, the zebrafish (Danio rerio). For this purpose, 60 female zebrafish aged 16
weeks were used. These were exposed for 14 days in aquariums (following OECD Directive no.204) to
BPA concentrations of 1, 10, 100 and 1000 mg/L, in addition to a control batch. After the exposure
period, the zebrafish were sacrificed and samples taken for a histopathological study by light and
electron microscopy and morphometric analysis. During the fourteen days of exposure, water samples
were taken from the aquariums to analyze the BPA levels. The BPA concentration in the fish and the
water was determined by LC–MS/MS.
The gonads of the zebrafish exposed to the BPA had a normal external appearance and there were
no variations in their size or body weight. An accumulation of BPA was produced in the zebrafish
tissues, and this increased as the BPA concentration to which the fish were exposed did. In the
histopathological and morphometric studies, multiple alterations were observed in the zebrafish
ovaries, particularly highlighting the vacuolization of the follicular cytoplasm, a great degeneration of
all the cell components, and an important increase in the percentage of atretic follicles as from
concentrations of 100 and 1000 mg/L of BPA, verified by morphometry.
These data indicate that morphological endpoints are sufficiently sensitive to individuate early
effects of environmental concentration of BPA on gonads after two weeks of exposure.