Poster Session 5, 3:15 PM - 4:00 PM: Campus Center Auditorium [A19]

Assessment of Developmental and Exocrine Pancreatic Toxicity of Aqueous Film Forming Foams (AFFF) in Larval Zebrafish (Danio rerio) and Its Potential Modulation by the Nrf2 Pathway

Presenter: Sushmita Emani

Faculty Sponsor: Alicia Timme-Laragy

School: UMass Amherst

Research Area: Public Health and Epidemiology

ABSTRACT

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are ubiquitous, anthropogenic chemicals that bioaccumulate. While individual PFAS have been shown to affect developmental, reproductive, and endocrine functions, less is known about PFAS mixtures. Aqueous Film-Forming Foams (AFFF), a mixture dominated by PFAS chemicals, have been detected as drinking water contaminants. AFFF consists of six regulated PFAS chemicals that have been individually studied in a wide range of animal models. This study uses mixtures of 27 PFAS and 6 regulated PFAS synthesized to mimic a legacy AFFF sample (~3% AFFF). Homozygous Nrf2a wildtype and mutant zebrafish with a loss-of-function mutation were crossed with Tg(ptf1a:GFP) to assess Nrf2 effects on the exocrine pancreas and were exposed to 0.00005%, 0.001%, and 0.0025% AFFF, with 0.1% methanol as a solvent control. Exposures were static, and larvae were imaged at 4 days post fertilization (dpf) using brightfield and fluorescence microscopy. Morphological assessments included fish length, pancreas length, pancreas area, yolk sac area, and pericardial area. Fish length decreased at 0.001% and 0.0025% AFFF in both genotypes. Yolk sac area increased at 0.0025% in both genotypes, and at 0.001% in wildtype. Exocrine pancreatic length decreased in mutants at 0.0025% and in wildtype at 0.001% and 0.0025%. Exocrine pancreatic area decreased at 0.001% and 0.0025% in both genotypes. Mutants exposed to the 6 PFAS mixture had increased yolk sac area at 0.0025%, with other endpoints unchanged. PFAS mixtures adversely impact morphology and pancreatic development in larval zebrafish in a dose-dependent manner, modulated by Nrf2a, with implications for metabolic processes.

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