Abstract
Cardiovascular diseases are a worldwide public health problem. To date, extensive research has been conducted to elucidate the pathophysiological mechanisms that trigger cardiovascular diseases and to evaluate therapeutic options. Animal models are widely used to achieve these goals, and zebrafish have emerged as a low-cost model that produces rapid results. Currently, a large body of research is devoted to the cardiovascular development and diverse cardiovascular disorders of zebrafish embryos and larvae. However, less research has been conducted on adult zebrafish specimens. In this study, we evaluated a method to obtain and to evaluate morphometric parameters (of both the entire animal and the heart) of adult zebrafish. We used these data to calculate additional parameters, such as body mass index, condition factor and cardiac somatic index. This method and its results can be used as reference for future studies that aim to evaluate the pathophysiological aspects of the zebrafish cardiovascular system.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arrenberg AB, Stainier DYR, Baier H, Huisken J (2010) Optogenetic control of cardiac function. Science 330(6006):971–974. doi:10.1126/science.1195929
Bakkers J (2011) Zebrafish as a model to study cardiac development and human cardiac disease. Cardiovasc Res 91(2):279–288. doi:10.1093/cvr/cvr098
Becker JR, Deo RC, Werdich AA, Panàkovà D, Coy S, MacRae CA (2011) Human cardiomyopathy mutations induce myocyte hyperplasia and activate hypertrophic pathways during cardiogenesis in zebrafish. Dis Models Mech 4(3):400–410. doi:10.1242/dmm.006148
Chablais F, Veit J, Rainer G, Jaźwińska A (2011) The zebrafish heart regenerates after cryoinjury-induced myocardial infarction. BMC Dev Biol 11:21. doi:10.1186/1471-213X-11-21
Chaudhari GH, Chennubhotla KS, Chatti K, Kulkarni P (2013) Optimization of the adult zebrafish ECG method for assessment of drug-induced QTc prolongation. J Pharmacol Toxicol Methods 67(2):115–120. doi:10.1016/j.vascn.2013.01.007
Chi NC, Shaw RM, Jungblut B, Huisken J, Ferrer T, Arnaout R, Scott I, Beis D, Xiao T, Baier H, Jan LY, Tristani-Firouzi M, Stainier DYR (2008) Genetic and physiologic dissection of the vertebrate cardiac conduction system. PLoS Biol 6(5):e109. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060109
Childs S, Chen J-N, Garrity DM, Fishman MC (2002) Patterning of angiogenesis in the zebrafish embryo. Development (Cambridge, England) 129(4):973–982
Claireaux G, McKenzie DJ, Genge AG, Chatelier A, Aubin J, Farrell AP (2005) Linking swimming performance, cardiac pumping ability and cardiac anatomy in rainbow trout. J Exp Biol 208(10):1775–1784. doi:10.1242/jeb.01587
Dahme T, Katus HA, Rottbauer W (2009) Fishing for the genetic basis of cardiovascular disease. Dis Models Mech 2(1–2):18–22. doi:10.1242/dmm.000687
Gamperl AK, Farrell AP (2004) Cardiac plasticity in fishes: environmental influences and intraspecific differences. J Exp Biol 207(15):2539–2550. doi:10.1242/jeb.01057
Gerull B, Gramlich M, Atherton J, McNabb M, Trombitás K, Sasse-Klaassen S, Seidman JG, Seidman C, Granzier H, Labeit S, Frenneaux M, Thierfelder L (2002) Mutations of TTN, encoding the giant muscle filament titin, cause familial dilated cardiomyopathy. Nat Gen 30(2):201–204. doi:10.1038/ng815
González-Rosa JM, Martín V, Peralta M, Torres M, Mercader N (2011) Extensive scar formation and regression during heart regeneration after cryoinjury in zebrafish. Development 138(9):1663–1674. doi:10.1242/dev.060897
Hasenfuss G (1998) Animal models of human cardiovascular disease, heart failure and hypertrophy. Cardiovasc Res 39(1):60–76
Ho Y-L, Lin Y-H, Tsai W-Y, Hsieh F-J, Tsai H-J (2009) Conditional antisense-knockdown of zebrafish cardiac troponin C as a new animal model for dilated cardiomyopathy. Circ J 73(9):1691–1697. doi:10.1253/circj.CJ-09-0210
Holden BJ, Bratt DG, Chico TJA (2011) Molecular control of vascular development in the zebrafish. Birth Defects Res C Embryo Today 93(2):134–140. doi:10.1002/bdrc.20204
Howe K, Clark MD, Torroja CF, Torrance J, Berthelot C, Muffato M et al (2013) The zebrafish reference genome sequence and its relationship to the human genome. Nature 496(7446):498–503. doi:10.1038/nature12111
Hu N, Sedmera D, Yost HJ, Clark EB (2000) Structure and function of the developing zebrafish heart. Anat Rec 260(2):148–157
Huang C-C, Monte A, Cook JM, Kabir MS, Peterson KP (2013) Zebrafish heart failure models for the evaluation of chemical probes and drugs. Assay Drug Dev Technol 11(9–10):561–572. doi:10.1089/adt.2013.548
Huttner IG, Trivedi G, Jacoby A, Mann SA, Vandenberg JI, Fatkin D (2013) A transgenic zebrafish model of a human cardiac sodium channel mutation exhibits bradycardia, conduction-system abnormalities and early death. J Mol Cell Cardiol 61:123–132. doi:10.1016/j.yjmcc.2013.06.005
Kimmel CB (1989) Genetics and early development of zebrafish. Trends Gen TIG 5(8):283–288
Liu J, Stainier DYR (2012) Zebrafish in the study of early cardiac development. Circ Res 110(6):870–874. doi:10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.111.246504
McCallum H (2008) Population parameters: estimation for ecological models. Wiley, New York
Milan DJ, Jones IL, Ellinor PT, MacRae CA (2006) In vivo recording of adult zebrafish electrocardiogram and assessment of drug-induced QT prolongation. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 291(1):H269
Oka T, Nishimura Y, Zang L, Hirano M, Shimada Y, Wang Z, Umemoto N, Kuroyanagi J, Nishimura N, Tanaka T (2010) Diet-induced obesity in zebrafish shares common pathophysiological pathways with mammalian obesity. BMC Physiol 10:21. doi:10.1186/1472-6793-10-21
Parente V, Balasso S, Pompilio G, Verduci L, Colombo GI, Milano G, Guerrini U, Squadroni L, Cotelli F, Pozzoli O, Capogrossi MC (2013) Hypoxia/reoxygenation cardiac injury and regeneration in zebrafish adult heart. PLoS ONE 8(1):e53748. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0053748
Pombo A, Blasco M, Climent V (2012) The status of farmed fish hearts: an alert to improve health and production in three Mediterranean species. Rev Fish Biol Fish 22(3):779–789. doi:10.1007/s11160-012-9259-5
Poppe TT, Johansen R, Tørud B (2002) Cardiac abnormality with associated hernia in farmed rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. Dis Aquat Org 50(2):153–155. doi:10.3354/dao050153
Poppe T, Johansen R, Gunnes G, Tørud B (2003) Heart morphology in wild and farmed Atlantic salmon Salmo salar and rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. Dis Aquat Org 57:103–108. doi:10.3354/dao057103
Poss KD, Wilson LG, Keating MT (2002) Heart regeneration in zebrafish. Science 298(5601):2188–2190. doi:10.1126/science.1077857
Reiter JF, Alexander J, Rodaway A, Yelon D, Patient R, Holder N, Stainier DYR (1999) Gata5 is required for the development of the heart and endoderm in zebrafish. Genes Dev 13(22):2983–2995
Russell JC, Proctor SD (2006) Small animal models of cardiovascular disease: tools for the study of the roles of metabolic syndrome, dyslipidemia, and atherosclerosis. Cardiovasc Pathol 15(6):318–330. doi:10.1016/j.carpath.2006.09.001
Schnabel K, Wu C-C, Kurth T, Weidinger G (2011) Regeneration of cryoinjury induced necrotic heart lesions in zebrafish is associated with epicardial activation and cardiomyocyte proliferation. PLoS ONE 6(4):e18503. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018503
Schönberger J, Wang L, Shin JT, Kim SD, Depreux FFS, Zhu H, Zon L, Pizard A, Kim JB, Macrae CA, Mungall AJ, Seidman JG, Seidman CE (2005) Mutation in the transcriptional coactivator EYA4 causes dilated cardiomyopathy and sensorineural hearing loss. Nat Gen 37(4):418–422. doi:10.1038/ng1527
Sedmera D, Reckova M, deAlmeida A, Sedmerova M, Biermann M, Volejnik J, Sarre A, Raddatz E, McCarthy RA, Gourdie RG, Thompson RP (2003) Functional and morphological evidence for a ventricular conduction system in zebrafish and Xenopus hearts. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 284(4):H1152–H1160. doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00870.2002
Serbedzija GN, Flynn E, Willett CE (1999) Zebrafish angiogenesis: a new model for drug screening. Angiogenesis 3(4):353–359
Siccardi AJ III, Garris HW, Jones WT, Moseley DB, D’Abramo LR, Watts SA (2009) Growth and survival of zebrafish (Danio rerio) fed different commercial and laboratory diets. Zebrafish 6(3):275–280. doi:10.1089/zeb.2008.0553
Stainier DY (2001) Zebrafish genetics and vertebrate heart formation. Nat Rev Gen 2(1):39–48. doi:10.1038/35047564
Staudt D, Stainier D (2012) Uncovering the molecular and cellular mechanisms of heart development using the zebrafish. Ann Rev Gen 46:397–418. doi:10.1146/annurev-genet-110711-155646
Tu S, Chi NC (2012) Zebrafish models in cardiac development and congenital heart birth defects. Differentiation 84(1):4–16. doi:10.1016/j.diff.2012.05.005
Xu X, Meiler SE, Zhong TP, Mohideen M, Crossley DA, Burggren WW, Fishman MC (2002) Cardiomyopathy in zebrafish due to mutation in an alternatively spliced exon of titin. Nat Gen 30(2):205–209. doi:10.1038/ng816
Zaffran S, Frasch M (2002) Early signals in cardiac development. Circ Res 91(6):457–469
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by Research Grant from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia. Project: 5605, Budget Code 120112Z0401200.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors confirm that they have no conflicts of interest in relation to this article.
Ethical statement
No ethical issues are involved.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vargas, R., Vásquez, I.C. Cardiac and somatic parameters in zebrafish: tools for the evaluation of cardiovascular function. Fish Physiol Biochem 42, 569–577 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-015-0160-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-015-0160-8