Abstract
Endocrine disrupting effects of 4-tert-butylphenol (4-t-BP) are well described in literature. However, the evidence regarding developmental toxic effect of 4-t-BP is still vague. The present study used zebrafish as a model organism to investigate the toxic effect of 4-t-BP. The results showed that 4-t-BP exposure at 3, 6, and 12 μM induced developmental toxicity in zebrafish, such as reduced embryo hatchability and abnormality morphological. Flow cytometry analysis showed that 4-t-BP also induced intracellular ROS production. 4-t-BP induced changes in the expression of genes related to cardiac development and melanin synthesis, resulting in cardiotoxicity and hypopigmentation. 4-t-BP also caused oxidative stress, and initiated apoptosis through p53-bcl-2/bax-capase3 pathway. Integrative biomarker response analysis showed time- and dose-dependent effects of 4-t-BP on oxidative damage and developmental toxicity in zebrafish embryos. Overall, this study contributed to a comprehensive evaluation of the toxicity of 4-t-BP, and the findings provided new evidence for early warning of residues in aquatic environments.
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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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This study was supported by the Basic and Advanced Research Project of Chongqing (cstc2018jcyjAX0665) and the Public Experiment Center of State Bioindustrial Base (Chongqing), China.
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Tingzhang Hu conceived and designed the study. Mingxing Wang and Tian Qin were involved in methodology. Mingxing Wang and Guoliang Chen contributed to original draft preparation. Mingxing Wang and Tingzhang Hu were associated with review and editing. Guixue Wang and Tingzhang Hu provided supervision. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
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Wang, M., Qin, T., Chen, G. et al. The toxicity of 4-tert-butylphenol in early development of zebrafish: morphological abnormality, cardiotoxicity, and hypopigmentation. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 45781–45795 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-25586-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-25586-5