Developmental toxicity of cryptotanshinone on the early-life stage of zebrafish development.

Cryptotanshinone (Cry) has multiple potential functions in treating different diseases. Most studies on Cry focus on its pharmacological effects and mechanisms, but toxicological reports on Cry are rare. Zebrafish is used as a model organism in drug development as it saves costs and time. This work aimed to investigate the toxicity of Cry on zebrafish. Results showed that growth retardation, pericardial edema, and scoliosis occurred when zebrafish embryos were exposed to Cry, indicating its teratogenic effects. Cell apoptosis was observed in the brainstem area of embryos using acridine orange staining, and qPCR showed that caspase-3 was increased in Cry-exposed embryos. The results of locomotor activity and touched-evoke escape reaction experiments showed that Cry significantly reduced the swimming speed and escape reaction time of larvae.