MS-222 induces biochemical and transcriptional changes related to oxidative stress, cell proliferation and apoptosis in zebrafish embryos

MS-222, the most widely used anaesthetic in fish, has been shown to induce embryotoxic effects in zebrafish. However, the underlying molecular effects are still elusive. This study aimed to investigate the effects of MS-222 exposure during early developmental stages by evaluating biochemical and molecular changes. Embryos were exposed to 50, 100 or 150 mg L−1 MS-222 for 20 min at one of three developmental stages (256-cell, 50% epiboly, or 1–4 somite stage) and oxidative-stress, cell proliferation and apoptosis-related parameters were determined at two time-points (8 and 26 hpf). Following exposure during the 256-cell stage, the biochemical redox balance was not affected. The genes associated with glutathione homeostasis (gstpi and gclc) were affected at 8 hpf, while genes associated with apoptosis (casp3a and casp6) and cellular proliferation (pcna) were found affected at 26 hpf. An inverted U-shaped response was observed at 8 hpf for catalase activity. After exposure at the 50% epiboly stage, the gclc gene associated with oxidative stress was found upregulated at 8 hpf, while gstpi was downregulated and casp6 was upregulated later on, coinciding with a decrease in glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity and a non-monotonic elevation of protein carbonyls and casp3a. Additionally, MS-222 treated embryos showed a decrease in DCF-staining at 26 hpf. When exposure was performed at the 1–4 somite stage, a similar DCF-staining pattern was observed. The activity of GPx was also affected whereas RT-qPCR showed that caspase transcripts were dose-dependently increased (casp3a, casp6 and casp9). The pcna mRNA levels were also found to be upregulated while gclc was changed by MS-222. These results highlight the impact of MS-222 on zebrafish embryo development and its interference with the antioxidant, cell proliferation and cellular death systems by mechanisms still to be explained; however, the outcomes point to the Erk/Nrf2 signalling pathway as a target candidate. [Display omitted] •MS-222 induces developmental stage-dependent changes.•Oxidative stress and apoptosis gene expression changes observed following exposure at 256-cell stage.•Oxidative protein damage and stress-induced changes by MS-222 at the 50% epiboly stage.•Dose-dependent increased in apoptosis and cell proliferation following exposure at 1–4 somite stage.•MS-222 interferes with developmental antioxidant, cell proliferation and cellular death processes.