Zebrafish as an alternative method for determining the embryo toxicity of plant products: a systematic review

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 25; no. 35; pp. 35015 - 35026
• Main Authors: Falcão, Maria Alice Pimentel, de Souza, Lucas Santos, Dolabella, Silvio Santana, Guimarães, Adriana Gibara, Walker, Cristiani Isabel Banderó
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.12.2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Danio rerio; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Embryogenesis; Embryonic growth stage; Embryos; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Organic chemistry; Review Article; Toxicity; Toxicity testing; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Zebrafish; Zebrafish; Plant products; Embryo; Toxicity; Danio rerio
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-018-3399-7

The toxicological assessment of plant products and pharmaceutical chemicals is a necessary requirement to ensure that all compounds are safe to be exposed to humans. Many countries are trying to reduce the use of animals; thus, alternative techniques, such as ex vivo tests, in vitro assays, and ex uteri embryos, are used. Toxicological assays using zebrafish embryos are an advantageous technique because they are transparent, have rapid embryonic development, and do not require invasive techniques. This paper comprehensively reviews how toxicity testing with plant products is conducted in zebrafish embryos. The search terms zebra fish, Danio rerio , zebrafish, zebra danio, Brachydanio rerio , zebrafish, and embryos were used to search for English-language articles in PUBMED, SCOPUS, and WEB OF SCIENCE. Twelve articles on plant product toxicity studies using zebrafish were selected for reading and analysis. After analyzing the articles and comparing with results in mammals, it was possible to prove the similarity among the results and thus corroborate the further development of zebrafish as a valid tool in toxicity tests.