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Saleh Hodin NA, Chong SG, Bakar NA, Fahmi MSAM, Ramlan NF, Hamid NNAZZ, Fadzar MSIM, Zulkifli AR, Norazhar AI, Mastuki SN, Faudzi SMM, Ibrahim WNW, Azmai MNA. Toxicity and teratogenicity effects of valproic acid on zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos in relation to autism spectrum disorder. Birth Defects Res 2023; 115:1475-1485. [PMID: 37507847 DOI: 10.1002/bdr2.2227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Revised: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023]
Abstract
Valproic acid (VPA) is a widely prescribed antiepileptic drug with various medicinal efficacies. Accumulated evidence implied that prenatal exposure to VPA is highly associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this study, the zebrafish were exposed to a set of VPA concentrations (0, 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, and 2560 μM) at 5 h post fertilization (hpf) to 120 hpf. The adverse effects of VPA were extensively studied through the evaluations on the mortality, heartbeats, spontaneous tail coiling, and hatching rate. Morphological observations were conducted at 120 hpf, following the exposure termination. Basic locomotor responses and anxiety-like behavioral alterations evaluated for behavioral impairments are the hallmark feature of ASD. The exposure to VPA at teratogenic concentrations reduced the aforementioned parameters in a dose-dependent manner (p ≤ .05). At the selected non-teratogenic concentrations of VPA, the treated larvae demonstrated profound alterations of basic locomotor responses. No significant changes of anxiety and thigmotactic behaviors were observed on the VPA-treated fish compared to the control (p ≥ .005). This study depicted that embryonic zebrafish exposure to VPA produced significant toxicity and teratogenicity effects as well as the alterations of basic behavioral responses. Overall, this study provides a fundamental insight of the toxicity effects at morphological and behavioral levels to facilitate the understanding of ASD mechanisms at different molecular levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nur Atikah Saleh Hodin
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
- Natural Medicines and Products Research Laboratory, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
- Centre of Foundation Studies for Agricultural Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
| | - Siok Geok Chong
- Natural Medicines and Products Research Laboratory, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
| | - Noraini Abu Bakar
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
- Natural Medicines and Products Research Laboratory, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
| | | | - Nurul Farhana Ramlan
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
- Natural Medicines and Products Research Laboratory, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
| | | | | | - Abdul Rahman Zulkifli
- Natural Medicines and Products Research Laboratory, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
| | - Anis Irfan Norazhar
- Natural Medicines and Products Research Laboratory, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
| | - Siti Nurulhuda Mastuki
- Natural Medicines and Products Research Laboratory, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
| | - Siti Munirah Mohd Faudzi
- Natural Medicines and Products Research Laboratory, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
| | - Wan Norhamidah Wan Ibrahim
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
- Natural Medicines and Products Research Laboratory, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
| | - Mohammad Noor Amal Azmai
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
- Aquatic Animal Health and Therapeutics Laboratory, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
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