Lycium Barbarum Polysaccharides Protects Zebrafish Larvae From Nonylphenol‐Induced Neurodevelopmental Disorders via the p38/5‐HT1A/Wnt/β‐Catenin Pathway

ABSTRACT Severe contamination with nonylphenol (NP) poses exposure risks and potential health problems for humans. However, direct evidence linking NP exposure to neurodevelopmental disorders in infants and young children remains limited, and the underlying mechanisms of such effects are unclear. Furthermore, neurodevelopmental disorders are characterized by their far‐reaching impacts and lack of effective cures, emphasizing an urgent need to develop drugs targeting the treatment of these disorders. Therefore, in this study, we constructed a model of NP‐induced neurodevelopmental disorders in zebrafish (7 days) to explore these mechanisms and examined the potential of lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP) as an intervention. We found that NP affected the neurobehavior of zebrafish and downregulated the expression of neurodevelopmental genes, resulting in neurodevelopmental disorders. Importantly, the 5‐HT1A/Wnt/β‐catenin signaling pathway was identified as closely related to neurodevelopmental disorders. Our study also found that NP activated the p38 pathway and inhibited the 5‐HT1A/Wnt/β‐catenin signaling pathway. In addition, we observed that LBP treatment significantly attenuated NP‐induced neurodevelopmental disorders. In conclusion, the present study elucidated the mechanism by which NP may induce neurodevelopmental deficits through the p38/5‐HT1A/Wnt/β‐catenin signaling pathway and highlighted the protective potential of LBP against NP‐induced developmental neurotoxicity.