Abstract
β-Agonists, which are used as human pharmaceuticals or feed additives, have been detected in aquatic environments. β-Agonists have also been proposed for use in aquaculture. However, there are limited data available regarding the adverse effects of β-agonists in aquatic organisms. In this study, ractopamine was selected as the representative β-agonist, and medaka embryos were exposed at concentrations ranging from 5 to 625 μg/L for 44 days. In contrast to what has been found in mammals, ractopamine caused no growth response in medaka. However, the transcriptional changes of genes related to the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal (HPG) axis, especially in females, suggested that β-agonists may have the potential to disrupt the endocrine system. Moreover, genes involved in anti-oxidative activity or detoxification were affected in a gender-specific manner. These findings, particularly the effects on the endocrine system of fish, will advance our understanding of the ecotoxicity of β-agonists.
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Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21377118) and Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (IRT13096) for supporting this research.
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Sun, L., Wang, S., Lin, X. et al. Early Life Exposure to Ractopamine Causes Endocrine-Disrupting Effects in Japanese Medaka (Oryzias latipes). Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 96, 150–155 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-015-1659-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-015-1659-5