1. Academic Validation
  2. UV filter ethylhexyl salicylate affects cardiovascular development by disrupting lipid metabolism in zebrafish embryos

UV filter ethylhexyl salicylate affects cardiovascular development by disrupting lipid metabolism in zebrafish embryos

  • Sci Total Environ. 2023 May 16;888:164073. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164073.
Guang Zhao 1 Meng Gao 1 Shujie Guo 1 Shumin Zeng 1 Chen Ye 1 Mengnan Wang 1 Zahid Anwar 1 Beijuan Hu 2 Yijiang Hong 3
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Nanchang University Modern Agriculture Research Institute, Key Laboratory of Aquatic Resources and Utilization of Jiangxi, School of Life Science, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330031, China.
  • 2 Nanchang University Modern Agriculture Research Institute, Key Laboratory of Aquatic Resources and Utilization of Jiangxi, School of Life Science, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330031, China. Electronic address: beijuanhu@ncu.edu.cn.
  • 3 Nanchang University Modern Agriculture Research Institute, Key Laboratory of Aquatic Resources and Utilization of Jiangxi, School of Life Science, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330031, China. Electronic address: yijianghong@126.com.
Abstract

Ethylhexyl salicylate (EHS) is an organic UV filter commonly used in sunscreens to protect people from the UV radiation. The widespread use of EHS will enter the aquatic environment along with human activities. EHS readily accumulates in adipose tissue as a lipophilic compound, but its toxic effects on lipid metabolism and cardiovascular system of aquatic organisms have not been studied. This study investigated the effects of EHS on lipid metabolism and cardiovascular development during zebrafish embryogenesis. The results showed that EHS caused defects such as pericardial edema, cardiovascular dysplasia, lipid deposition, ischemia, and Apoptosis in zebrafish embryos. In addition, qPCR and whole-mount in situ hybridization (WISH) results indicated that EHS treatment significantly altered the expression of genes related to cardiovascular development, lipid metabolism, erythropoiesis, and Apoptosis. The hypolipidemic drug rosiglitazone was able to alleviate the cardiovascular defects caused by EHS, indicating that EHS affected cardiovascular development by disrupting lipid metabolism. In addition, severe ischemia caused by cardiovascular abnormalities and Apoptosis were observed in the EHS-treated embryos, which was likely to be the main cause of embryonic mortality. In conclusion, this study shows that EHS has toxic effects on lipid metabolism and cardiovascular formation. Our findings provide new evidence for assessing UV filter EHS toxicity and contribute to raising awareness of the safety risks of EHS.

Keywords

Cardiovascular; EHS; Lipid metabolism; Zebrafish embryos.

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