Effect of acetochlor on transcription of genes associated with oxidative stress, apoptosis, immunotoxicity and endocrine disruption in the early life stage of zebrafish

• Acetochlor affected mRNA levels of genes related to innate immune system.
• Acetochlor could potentially induce endocrine disruption in the early life stage of zebrafish.
• Acetochlor increased the transcription of genes related to oxidative stress.
• Acetochlor might trigger cell apoptosis during zebrafish embryonic development.

The study presented here aimed to characterize the effects of acetochlor on expression of genes related to endocrine disruption, oxidative stress, apoptosis and immune system in zebrafish during its embryo development. Different trends in gene expression were observed after exposure to 50, 100, 200 μg/L acetochlor for 96 h. Results demonstrated that the transcription patterns of many key genes involved in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal/thyroid (HPG/HPT) axis (e.g., VTG1, ERβ1, CYP19a and TRα), cell apoptosis pathway (e.g., Bcl2, Bax, P53 and Cas8), as well as innate immunity (e.g., CXCL-C1C, IL-1β and TNFα) were affected in newly hatched zebrafish after exposure to acetochlor. In addition, the up-regulation of CAT, GPX, GPX1a, Cu/Zn-SOD and Ogg1 suggested acetochlor might trigger oxidative stress in zebrafish. These finding indicated that acetochlor could simultaneously induce multiple responses during zebrafish embryonic development, and bidirectional interactions among oxidative stress, apoptosis pathway, immune and endocrine systems might be present.

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