Comparative neurotoxicity study of mercury-based inorganic compounds including Ayurvedic medicines Rasasindura and Kajjali in zebrafish model

Publication date: March–April 2018 Source:Neurotoxicology and Teratology, Volume 66 Author(s): Snehasis Biswas, Naay Balodia, Jayesh Bellare Zebrafish behavioral model is a powerful tool for neuroscience research. Behavioral changes in the zebrafish are studied by administering drugs. With the aid of automated and open-source MATLAB program, high-accuracy tracking of zebrafish can be achieved, and the important behavioral parameters can be calculated. Although mercury is accepted as a potent neurotoxin, used as a key element for preparing certain Ayurvedic medicines. In this work, mercury-based inorganic compounds, including HgCl2, HgS, and Ayurvedic medicines (Rasasindura and Kajjali) were administrated in zebrafish, and the effects on various behavioral parameters and cortisol levels were studied. A significant change in the basic locomotor parameters of fish was observed including speed (43% reduction), meander (150% increment), and a number of freeze points (125% increment), during 5-day treatment of HgCl2 along with a 3-fold increase in cortisol level against the control groups. Abnormal behavior was also recorded in color preference test, and novel tank diving behavior of HgCl2-treated groups, which can be attributed to the neurotoxicity induced by the HgCl2 administration. Contrary to this, the Rasasindura-treated group showed a significant increase in speed by 33%, decrease in meander by 20%, decrease in freeze points by 30%, and insignificant alteration in cor...

Source: Neurotoxicology and Teratology - March 4, 2018 Category: Toxicology Source Type: research