CAN THE EFFECTS INDUCED BY ETHANOL BE RESCUED IN ZEBRAFISH?

This study was designed to examine if the adverse effects induced by ethanol could be rescued. First the extent to which ethanol affects zebrafish (Danio rerio) was determined, testing a range of ethanol concentrations (0-2%) by measuring morphological and developmental parameters. Ethanol is known to interrupt normal embryonic development which may be due to disruption to retinoic acid (RA) signalling and biosynthesis. At high concentrations ethanol also affects antioxidants which can lead to vitamin deficiency. After establishing the effects of ethanol, the lowest concentration to have a significant negative effect (1.5%) was used to test the efficiency of antioxidants to rescue the morphological and developmental effects. Rescue drugs tested were RA, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and trolox (vitamin E) over a range of concentrations. We found that concurrent treatment with either RA, vitamin C or vitamin E and 1.5% ethanol from 3-24 hours post fertilisation (hpf) did not significantly rescue any of the parameters measured. In fact, RA supplementation was detrimental to the organism producing an additive effect when combined with ethanol, while vitamin C and E treatments had no effect at all with results being similar to that of ethanol treatments. Reasons for rescue drugs failing to reverse the effects of ethanol may be due to the concentration of ethanol being too high for RA, vitamin C and E to have a significant effect. The exposure period for rescue drugs may be incorrect, therefore, no effect was observed. To rescue the effects of ethanol a combination of rescue drugs may be requiredFaculty of Scienc