Investigating the Impacts of Methylparaben Exposure on Pancreas Development and Morphometrics on Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Presenter: Mcking Minh Truong

Faculty Sponsor: Alicia Timme-Laragy

School: UMass Amherst

Research Area: Public Health and Epidemiology

Session: Poster Session 5, 3:15 PM - 4:00 PM, Auditorium, A20

ABSTRACT

Methylparaben is a widely used antimicrobial preservative found in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and food packaging. Despite its classification as a Generally Recognized as Safe chemical by the U.S. EPA, limited data exists regarding the effects of methylparaben on metabolic health during embryogenesis. Butylparaben, a structurally similar compound, has been shown to reduce pancreatic β-cell area, alter islet morphology, and induce oxidative stress in zebrafish larvae, suggesting parabens' role as metabolic disruptors. As such, this study aims to test the effects of developmental methylparaben exposure on developmental and pancreatic morphology in larval zebrafish, interrogating redox stress as a potential mechanism of toxicity. Tg(ins:GFP), Tg(Nrf2a+/+;ins:GFP), and mutant Tg(Nrf2afh318/fh318;ins:GFP) zebrafish embryos were exposed to 0 (0.01% DMSO), 250, 500, 1000, and 3000 nM methylparaben from 3 hours post fertilization (hpf) to 4 days post-fertilization (dpf); treatments were refreshed daily. At 4 dpf, larvae were imaged using brightfield and fluorescence microscopy at 20x and 100x magnification. Images were blinded, then analyzed on ImageJ Software to evaluate body length, yolk sac area, and pancreatic islet area. Methylparaben exposure resulted in a slight dose-dependent increase in yolk sac area in larvae with impaired Nrf2a, and a decreasing dose-dependent trend in islet area across both genotypes. These findings indicate that methylparaben may exert weaker effects on pancreatic morphology than butylparaben. Future research will build on this morphometric data and assess the impacts of methylparaben on pancreatic function.

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