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Toxic Effects of Koumine on the Early-Life Development Stage of Zebrafish.

Authors :
Wang, Dongjie
Leng, Xinyi
Tian, Yao
Liu, Jiangdong
Zou, Jixing
Xie, Shaolin
Source :
Toxics; Oct2023, Vol. 11 Issue 10, p853, 13p
Publication Year :
2023

Abstract

Koumine is one of the most abundant alkaloids found in Gelsemium elegans, and it has a wide range of pharmacological effects including antitumor, anti-inflammatory, analgesic treatment effects, and antianxiety. However, its high toxicity and unclear mechanism of action have greatly limited the medicinal development and use of koumine. We investigated the toxic effects of koumine on the developmental toxicity and behavioral neurotoxicity of zebrafish embryos and larvae. Embryos at 6 h postfertilization (hpf) were exposed to 12.5, 25, 50, 75, and 100 mg/L of koumine until 120 hpf. Koumine affected the hatching and heartbeats of the embryos. The morphological analysis also revealed many abnormalities, such as shortened bodies, yolk sac edemas, tail malformations, and pericardial edemas. To identify the neurotoxicity of koumine, the behavior of the larvae was measured. Koumine at 50 and 100 mg/L affect the escape response. The embryos exhibited uncoordinated muscle contractions along the body axis in response to touch at 36 hpf. More importantly, we found that the neurotoxicity of koumine is mainly caused by influencing the ACh content and the activity of AChE without impairing motor neuron development. A comprehensive analysis shows that a high concentration of koumine has obvious toxic effects on zebrafish, and the safe concentration of koumine for zebrafish should be less than 25 mg/L. These results will be valuable for better understanding the toxicity of koumine and provide new insights into the application of koumine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
23056304
Volume :
11
Issue :
10
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Toxics
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
173338120
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics11100853