In this study, we demonstrated that chitosan-applied zebrafish (Danio rerio) tissue metabolite alteration, metabolic discrimination, and metabolic phenotypic expression occurred. The spectroscopy of solid-state 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (ss 1H-NMR) has been used. Chitosan has no, or low, toxicity and is a biocompatible biomaterial; however, the metabolite mechanisms underlying the biological effect of chitosan are poorly understood. The zebrafish is now one of the most popular ecotoxicology models. Zebrafish were exposed to chitosan concentrations of 0, 50, 100, 200, and 500 mg/L, and the body tissue was subjected to metabolites-targeted profiling. The zebrafish samples were measured via solvent-suppressed and T2-filtered methods with in vivo zebrafish metabolites. The metabolism of glutamate, glutamine, glutathione (GSH), taurine, trimethylamine (TMA), and its N-oxide (TMAO) is also significantly altered. Here, we report the quantification of metabolites and the biological application of chitosan. The metabolomics profile of chitosan in zebrafish has been detected, and the results indicated disturbed amino acid metabolism, the TCA cycle, and glycolysis. Our results demonstrate the potential of comparative metabolite profiling for discovering bioactive metabolites and they highlight the power of chitosan-applied chemical metabolomics to uncover new biological insights.
Keywords: NMR spectroscopy; chitosan; metabolic phenotyping; metabolic profiling; metabolites; metabolomics; zebrafish (Danio rerio).