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Acute and sub-chronic toxicity of four cytostatic drugs in zebrafish

  • Fate and effects of the residues of anticancer drugs in the environment
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Abstract

The acute and sub-chronic effects of four cytostatic drugs—5-fluorouracil (5-FU), cisplatin (CisPt), etoposide (ET) and imatinib mesylate (IM)—on zebrafish (Danio rerio) were investigated. Acute tests were carried out in a static system in accordance with the OECD guideline 203 for adult fish and the draft guideline for fish embryos (FET test) in order to find the LC50 values of the four cytostatic drugs. Early-life stage toxicity test on zebrafish was conducted according the OECD guideline 210 using the cytostatic drugs 5-FU and IM in a semistatic system with the objective of investigating the sub-chronic effects of the cytostatic drugs on fish. In adult fish, the cytostatic drugs 5-FU and ET did not pass the limit test, thus, are considered non-toxic. In case of cisplatin, LC50 was calculated at 64.5 mg L−1, whereas in case of IM, LC50 was at 70.8 mg L−1. In the FET test, LC50 of 5-FU at 72-h post fertilization (hpf) was 2441.6 mg L−1. In case of CisPt, LC50 was 349.9 mg L−1 at 48 hpf and it progressively decreased to 81.3 mg L−1 at 120 hpf. In addition, CisPt caused a significant delay in the hatch of larvae. In case of ET, LC50 values were not calculable as they were higher than 300 mg L−1 at which concentration the substance crystallized in the solution. LC50 values of IM were 48 hpf; 158.3 mg L−1 , 72 hpf; 141.6 mg L−1, 96 hpf; 118.0 mg L−1, and 120 hpf; 65.9 mg L−1. In the Early-life Stage Test with 5-FU, embryonic deformities were not detected during the tests. Regarding mortalities, the 10 mg L−1 concentration can be considered as LOEC, as statistically significant difference in mortalities was detected in this group alone. Concerning dry body weight and standard length, 1 mg L−1 is the LOEC. In case of IM, the highest tested concentration (10 mg L−1) can be considered LOEC for mortalities, however, the treatment did not have an effect on the other investigated parameters (dry and wet weight, standard length). All four cytostatic drugs were characterized by low toxicity in zebrafish in acute and sub-chronic tests.

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported by the project number 265264 CytoThreat of the 7 th Framework Programme of the European Union and the project 9878/2015/FEKUT of the Ministry of Human Resources of Hungary awarded to Szent István University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Aquaculture, Szent István University, 2100, Gödöllő, Páter Károly u. 1., Hungary

    Róbert Kovács, Katalin Bakos, Béla Urbányi, Judit Kövesi, Gyöngyi Gazsi, Andrea Csepeli, Ádám János Appl, Dóra Bencsik, Zsolt Csenki & Ákos Horváth

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  1. Róbert Kovács
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  2. Katalin Bakos
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Correspondence to Ákos Horváth.

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Kovács, R., Bakos, K., Urbányi, B. et al. Acute and sub-chronic toxicity of four cytostatic drugs in zebrafish. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 14718–14729 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5036-z

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