Systematic evaluation of the toxicological effects of deltamethrin exposure in zebrafish larvae

Deltamethrin (DM) is a widely used pesticide and has been generally detected in aquatic systems. To systematically investigate the toxic effects, zebrafish embryos were treated with various concentrations of DM for 120 h. The LC50 was determined to be 102 μg L-1. Lethal concentrations of DM induced severe morphological defects in the surviving individuals. Under non-lethal concentrations, DM suppressed the development of neurons in the larvae, which was associated with the reduction in locomotor activity. DM exposure induced cardiovascular toxicity, including suppressed growth of blood vessels and enhanced heart rates. DM also disrupted the development of bones in the larvae. Moreover, liver degeneration, apoptosis and oxidative stress were observed in the larvae treated with DM. Correspondingly, the transcriptional levels of the genes related to the toxic effects were altered by DM. In conclusion, the results obtained in this study provided evidence that DM showed multiple toxic effects on aquatic organisms.