A novel zebrafish model to provide mechanistic insights into the inflammatory events in carrageenan-induced abdominal edema

PLoS One. 2014 Aug 20;9(8):e104414. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0104414. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

A suitable small animal model may help in the screening and evaluation of new drugs, especially those from natural products, which can be administered at lower dosages, fulfilling an urgent worldwide need. In this study, we explore whether zebrafish could be a model organism for carrageenan-induced abdominal edema. The research results showed that intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of 1.5% λ-carrageenan in a volume of 20 µL significantly increased abdominal edema in adult zebrafish. Levels of the proinflammatory proteins tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) were increased in carrageenan-injected adult zebrafish during the development of abdominal edema. An associated enhancement was also observed in the leukocyte marker, myeloperoxidase (MPO). To support these results, we further observed that i.p. methylprednisolone (MP; 1 µg), a positive control, significantly inhibited carrageenan-induced inflammation 24 h after carrageenan administration. Furthermore, i.p. pretreatment with either an anti-TNF-α antibody (1∶5 dilution in a volume of 20 µL) or the iNOS-selective inhibitor aminoguanidine (AG; 1 µg) inhibited carrageenan-induced abdominal edema in adult zebrafish. This new animal model is uncomplicated, easy to develop, and involves a straightforward inducement of inflammatory edema for the evaluation of small volumes of drugs or test compounds.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents / therapeutic use
  • Carrageenan
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Edema / chemically induced
  • Edema / drug therapy
  • Edema / metabolism*
  • Inflammation / chemically induced
  • Inflammation / drug therapy
  • Inflammation / metabolism*
  • Male
  • Methylprednisolone / therapeutic use
  • Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II / metabolism*
  • Peroxidase / metabolism
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / metabolism*
  • Zebrafish

Substances

  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
  • Carrageenan
  • Peroxidase
  • Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II
  • Methylprednisolone

Grants and funding

This work was supported, in part, by grants from the National Science Council, Taiwan (NSC100-2325-B-110-001 and NSC99-2313-B110-003-MY03) and the NSYSU-KMU Joint research project (NSYSUKMU P013). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.