Acute exposure to waterborne psychoactive drugs attract zebrafish

• Published in: Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Toxicology & pharmacology Vol. 179; pp. 37 - 43
• Main Authors: Abreu, Murilo S., Giacomini, Ana Cristina V., Gusso, Darlan, Rosa, João G.S., Koakoski, Gessi, Kalichak, Fabiana, Idalêncio, Renan, Oliveira, Thiago A., Barcellos, Heloísa H.A., Bonan, Carla D., Barcellos, Leonardo J.G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.01.2016
• Subjects: Animals; Attractiveness; Aversive behavior; Avoidance Learning - drug effects; Avoidance Learning - physiology; Behavior; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drugs; Female; Male; Motor Activity - drug effects; Motor Activity - physiology; Psychotropic Drugs - toxicity; Water Pollutants, Chemical - toxicity; Zebrafish; Drugs; Aversive behavior; Zebrafish; Behavior; Attractiveness
• ISSN: 1532-0456; 1878-1659
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpc.2015.08.009

Psychotropic medications are widely used, and their prescription has increased worldwide, consequently increasing their presence in aquatic environments. Therefore, aquatic organisms can be exposed to psychotropic drugs that may be potentially dangerous, raising the question of whether these drugs are attractive or aversive to fish. To answer this question, adult zebrafish were tested in a chamber that allows the fish to escape or seek a lane of contaminated water. These attraction and aversion paradigms were evaluated by exposing the zebrafish to the presence of acute contamination with these compounds. The zebrafish were attracted by certain concentrations of diazepam, fluoxetine, risperidone and buspirone, which were most likely detected by olfaction, because this behavior was absent in anosmic fish. These findings suggest that despite their deleterious effects, certain psychoactive drugs attract fish.