Rotenone is a naturally occurring toxin found in plants belonging to the <i>Lonchocarpus</i> species. It is a mitochondrial complex I inhibitor known to induce PD-like motor symptoms and dopaminergic neuronal loss in rodent models upon chronic exposure. Zebrafish is a unique model organism with many advantages over the rodent models such as small size, easier housing and maintenance, and quick breeding. However, the neurochemical effects of rotenone neurotoxicity in the zebrafish brain are poorly understood. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurological disease, affecting 3-4% human population worldwide. PD affects the quality of life of patients through a variety of motor and non-motor symptoms. The cause of PD is still unknown and developing animal models mimicking pathological conditions for PD is important to understand the underlying disease mechanisms as well as for developing new treatments. In the present study, we are working on electrochemically characterizing neurochemical levels in a novel rotenone induced zebrafish <i>(Danio rerio) </i>model for PD. In this study, adult zebrafish were exposed to water containing 3 mg/L rotenone for 4 weeks. Fast scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) at carbon-fiber microelectrodes was used to detect the electrically evoked dopamine release of the chemically naïve, vehicle-treated (DMSO), and rotenone treated zebrafish whole brains. The preliminary results of the study indicated significantly low dopamine release in the rotenone-treated fish compared with the vehicle and chemically naïve fish. Furthermore, we investigated the dopamine release in the male and female rotenone-treated fish groups. However, according to the experimental results, there wasn’t any significant difference in dopamine release between the male vs female rotenone treated zebrafish. Dopamine uptake rate was also measured using non-linear regression modeling of the dopamine release curves. The results from the modeling indicated that rotenone treated fish have low dopamine uptake rates compared to the vehicle and naïve zebrafish. Overall, these results suggest that rotenone neurotoxicity affects dopamine release and uptake in the zebrafish whole brain.

Effects of rotenone neurotoxicity on dopamine release and uptake in zebrafish

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