Effects of oxidative stress induced by environmental relevant concentrations of fluoxetine on the embryonic development on Danio rerio

Abstract

Fluoxetine (FLX) is a psychoactive drug that acts as an antidepressant. FLX is one of the world's best-selling pre- scription antidepressants. FLX is widely used for the treatment of various psychiatric disorders. For these reasons, this drug may eventually end up in the aquatic environment via municipal, industrial, and hospital discharges. Even though the occurrence of FLX in aquatic environments has been reported as ubiquitous, the toxic effects that this drug may induce, especially at environmentally relevant concentrations, on essential biological pro- cesses of aquatic organisms require more attention. In the light of this information, this work aimed to investigate the in!uence that !uoxetine oxidative stress-induced got over the embryonic development of Danio rerio. For this purpose, D. rerio embryos (4 h post fertilization) were exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 ng L!1) of !uoxetine, until 96 h post fecundation. Along the exposure, survival, alterations to embryonic development, and teratogenic effects were evaluated using a stereomicroscope. Fur- thermore, oxidative stress biomarkers (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, lipid peroxida- tion, hydroperoxide, and carbonyl content) were evaluated at 72 and 96 h post fecundation. LC50, EC50m, and !1 !1 teratogenic index were 30 ng L !uoxetine were pericardial edema, hatching retardation, spine alterations and craniofacial malformations. Concerning oxidative stress, our integrated biomarkers (IBR) analysis demonstrated that as the concentration increased, oxidative damage biomarkers got more in!uence over the embryos than antioxidant enzymes. Thus, !uoxetine induces an important oxidative stress response on the embryos of D. rerio. Collectively, our results allow us to concluded that FLX is a dangerous drug in the early life stages of D. rerio due to its high teratogenic potential and that FLX-oxidative stress induced may be involved in this toxic process.