Responses of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in zebrafish liver exposed to sublethal doses of Aphanizomenon flosaquae DC-1 aphantoxins

Highlights: • Exposure to aphantoxins induced hepatic pro- and anti-inflammatory responses in zebrafish. • The observed hyperemia and HSI increases reflected hepatic tissue inflammation and damage. • Increased levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8 suggested pro-inflammatory reactions. • Upregulation of IL-10 and TGF-β indicated anti-inflammatory induction. • The hyperemia, HSI, and inflammatory factor induction results showed that exposure aphantoxins caused hepatic immunotoxicity. -- Abstract: Blooms of the dominant cyanobacterium Aphanizomenon flosaquae are frequently encountered in natural waters, and their secretion of neurotoxic paralytic shellfish toxins called aphantoxins threatens environmental safety and human health worldwide. The liver is the primary detoxification organ in animals, and its pro- and anti-inflammatory responses are important functions in the detoxification of toxins. Therefore, we investigated the response of these inflammatory factors to aphantoxins in the liver of zebrafish (Danio rerio). A. flosaquae DC-1 was sampled during blooms in Dianchi Lake, China and cultured, and the toxin was extracted and analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography. The primary constituents were gonyautoxins 1 (34.04%) and 5 (21.28%) and neosaxitoxin (12.77%). Zebrafish were injected intraperitoneally with 5.3 μg (low dose) or 7.61 μg (high dose) of saxitoxin equivalents [equivalents (eq.)]/kg body weight of A. flosaquae DC-1 aphantoxins. Hyperemia, the hepatosomatic index (HSI), and physiological and molecular responses of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in the zebrafish liver were investigated at different time points 1–24 h post-exposure. Aphantoxins significantly enhanced hepatic hyperemia and altered the HSI 3–24 h post-exposure, suggesting that inflammation caused morphological changes. Subsequent investigations using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay showed that the pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, and IL-8 and anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10 and transforming growth factor β were higher in the liver of zebrafish exposed to aphantoxins, which indicated physiological inflammatory responses. Further analysis by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction demonstrated upregulated mRNA expression of these cytokines, suggesting molecular inflammatory responses in the zebrafish liver. These changes showed dose- and time-dependent patterns. These results indicated that aphantoxins induced hyperemia and altered the HSI, and subsequently increased the levels of proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-8 to induce physiological inflammatory responses. These changes activated the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10 and TGF-β to suppress inflammatory damage. The induced changes were the result of upregulated mRNA expression of these inflammatory cytokines caused by aphantoxins. Aphantoxins resulted in hepatic immunotoxicity and response by inducing pro-inflammatory cytokines. Zebrafish liver in turn suppressed the inflammatory damage by upregulating the activities of anti-inflammatory cytokines. In the future, these pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in the zebrafish liver may be prove to be useful biomarkers of aphantoxins and blooms in nature.