斑马鱼评价环境污染物酞酸二丁酯的免疫毒性成果的发表

环境污染物DBP已通过各种途径进入食品，并且在人体内已有一定的污染负荷，现在已有的动物实验结果表明，DBP对人类健康（比如对发育，代谢和内分泌系统）可构成潜在的远期危害，但其对免疫系统的研究还未见报道，基于此，江苏大学环境与安全工程学院联合杭州环特生物科技有限公司开展了此课题。研究人员首次评价了增塑剂酞酸二丁酯（DBP）对斑马鱼的免疫毒性（Assessment of immunotoxicity of dibutyl phthalate using live zebrafish embryos），这一成果于2015年5月6日发表在Fish & Shellfish Immunology（45期：P_286-292）杂志上。

斑马鱼基因同人类同源性高达87%，斑马鱼的生物学特性也决定了它是目前研究免疫系统非常合适的模型。斑马鱼受精后1天，体内已经形成了中性粒细胞和巨噬细胞；通过荧光蛋白转基因技术，我们可以构建免疫细胞荧光转基因斑马鱼，可以实时动态观察给药后斑马鱼体内中性粒细胞和巨噬细胞行为和活性的变化，从而可以直观评价受试物对斑马鱼免疫系统的影响。
                     

结果发现DBP能显著抑制斑马鱼的中性粒细胞（上图）和巨噬细胞（下图）的形成；抑制巨噬细胞的吞噬功能；抑制呼吸爆发，降低ROS的产生。说明DBP不仅会损伤/抑制斑马鱼的先天性免疫功能，而且可能影响斑马鱼的获得性免疫功能。

关于DBP为何只影响rag1基因的的表达，对rag2基因的表达没有影响，以及rag1表达的上调是DBP直接作用的结果，还是免疫抑制的反应性升高，仍然值得进一步探索。

原文链接：Assessment of immunotoxicity of dibutyl phthalate using live zebrafish embryos，

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fsi.2015.04.033

This study set out to understand the immune-toxic effects of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) using transgenic,

Abstract：albino or AB line zebrafish. Zebrafish embryos were exposed to different concentrations of DBP, and the

immune cells formation, phagocytosis ability were measured after a short-term exposure to DBP for 6 h

post-fertilization (hpf) to 72 or 96 hpf. Exposure to DBP was found to inhibit the neutrophils and

macrophage formation in a concentration-dependent manner. The ability of macrophage phagocytosis

was all decreased after exposure to DBP, indicating the occurrence of immunotoxicity. The respiratory

burst was induced, and the transcription levels of T/B cell-related genes rag1/2 were up-regulated. The

overall results indicate that DBP in aquatic environment greatly influence the immune system in fish, and

zebrafish embryos can serve as a reliable model for the developmental immunotoxicity of toxic-

chemicals.