The role of the ferroptosis pathway in the toxic mechanism of TCDD-induced liver damage in zebrafish

Abstract

Dioxins, especially 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) are harmful environmental pollutants, which is known to accumulate in humans and animals through ingestion, drinking water, and direct contact, leading to severe liver steatosis and cell death. This study used zebrafish as an experimental model to explore whether TCDD affects the liver via the ferroptosis pathway. The study examined microscopic and ultrastructural characteristics, oxidative stress-related indicators, iron content, and related gene and protein expression in zebrafish larvae liver cells. The results showed that TCDD exposure led to a decrease in the number of hepatocytes in zebrafish larvae. However, pretreatment with the ferroptosis inhibitor ferrostatin-1 (fer-1) alleviated these TCDD-induced changes. The transmission electron microscopy showed that TCDD exposure led to mitochondrial damage in the liver cells, an elevated iron content, a decrease in the level of the ferroptosis-related enzyme glutathione, increased alanine aminotransferase and malondialdehyde enzyme activities, and decreased glutathione peroxidase 4 protein levels. These effects were alleviated by the fer-1 pretreatment. At the gene level, TCDD exposure induced the expression of ferroptosis-related genes (tf, tfr, tfr1b, and fpn), inflammatory factor-related genes (NF-kB, ptgs2a, and ptgs2b), and lipid degeneration and autophagy genes (atg5, ncoa4, and acox1), and inhibited the expression of oxidative stress-related genes (gpx4, slc7a11, and nrf2). The fer-1 pretreatment counteracted these gene expression changes induced by TCDD. These findings indicate that TCDD-induced liver fatty degeneration and cell death are closely related to the ferroptosis pathway.