Perfluorohexanoic acid caused disruption of the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis in zebrafish larvae

Shengnan Zhang; Xiaochun Guo; Shaoyong Lu; Jia He; Qin Wu; Xiaohui Liu; Zhenyang Han; Ping Xie

Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety (Mar 2022)

Perfluorohexanoic acid caused disruption of the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis in zebrafish larvae

Shengnan Zhang,
Xiaochun Guo,
Shaoyong Lu,
Jia He,
Qin Wu,
Xiaohui Liu,
Zhenyang Han,
Ping Xie

Affiliations

Shengnan Zhang: National Engineering Laboratory for Lake Pollution Control and Ecological Restoration, State Environment Protection Key Laboratory for Lake Pollution Control, State Environmental Protection Scientific Observation and Research Station for Lake Dongtinghu (SEPSORSLD), State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China; State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Xiaochun Guo: National Engineering Laboratory for Lake Pollution Control and Ecological Restoration, State Environment Protection Key Laboratory for Lake Pollution Control, State Environmental Protection Scientific Observation and Research Station for Lake Dongtinghu (SEPSORSLD), State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China; Corresponding authors.
Shaoyong Lu: National Engineering Laboratory for Lake Pollution Control and Ecological Restoration, State Environment Protection Key Laboratory for Lake Pollution Control, State Environmental Protection Scientific Observation and Research Station for Lake Dongtinghu (SEPSORSLD), State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
Jia He: Beijing Key Laboratory of Urban Hydrological Cycle and Sponge City Technology, College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Corresponding authors.
Qin Wu: Hubei Key Laboratory of Edible Wild Plants Conservation and Utilization, Hubei Engineering Research Center of Special Wild Vegetables Breeding and Comprehensive Utilization Technology, Hubei Normal University, Huangshi 435002, China
Xiaohui Liu: National Engineering Laboratory for Lake Pollution Control and Ecological Restoration, State Environment Protection Key Laboratory for Lake Pollution Control, State Environmental Protection Scientific Observation and Research Station for Lake Dongtinghu (SEPSORSLD), State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
Zhenyang Han: National Engineering Laboratory for Lake Pollution Control and Ecological Restoration, State Environment Protection Key Laboratory for Lake Pollution Control, State Environmental Protection Scientific Observation and Research Station for Lake Dongtinghu (SEPSORSLD), State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
Ping Xie: Donghu Experimental Station of Lake Ecosystems, State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology of China, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 232
p. 113283

Abstract

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Perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) has been recognized as an alternative to the wide usage of perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) in the fluoropolymer industry for years. PFHxA has been frequently detected in the environment due to its wide application. However, the ecological safety of PFHxA, especially its toxicological effects on aquatic organisms, remains obscure. In the present study, PFHxA at different concentrations (0, 0.48, 2.4, and 12 mg/L) was added to the culture medium for zebraﬁsh embryo/larval exposure at 96 h postfertilization (hpf). Zebrafish larvae showed a slow body growth trend and changes in thyroid hormone levels (THs) upon PFHxA exposure, indicating the interference effect of PFHxA on fish larval development. Moreover, the transcription levels of genes related to the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis were also analyzed. The gene expression level of thyroid hormone receptor β (trβ) was upregulated in a dose-dependent manner. Exposure to 0.48 mg/L PFHxA increased the expression levels of the thyrotrophic-releasing hormone (trh) and thyroid hormone receptor α (trα). Signiﬁcant increases in corticotrophin-releasing hormone (crh) and transthyretin (ttr) gene expression were also observed when the zebraﬁsh larvae were treated with 12 mg/L PFHxA, except iodothyronine deiodinases (dio1), which decreased obviously at that point. There were significant declines in the transcription of both thyroid-stimulating hormone β (tshβ) and uridinediphosphate-glucuronosyltransferase (ugt1ab) upon exposure to 2.4 mg/L PFHxA. In addition, PFHxA induced a dose-related inhibitory effect on the transcription of sodium/iodide symporter (nis). Finally, the thyroid status will be destroyed after exposure to PFHxA, thus leading to growth impairment in zebrafish larvae.

Published in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety

ISSN: 0147-6513 (Print); 1090-2414 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Technology: Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering: Environmental pollution; Geography. Anthropology. Recreation: Environmental sciences
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/ecotoxicology-and-environmental-safety

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