Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 27, 2025
Small Molecule Screening and Toxicity Testing in Early-stage Zebrafish Larvae
Published on: March 7, 2025
Evaluation of the Toxicity of Sugammadex in Zebrafish Larvae
Woon Young Kim1, Yeon Hwa Kim2, Ji Yoon Lee1
1Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Korea University Ansan Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Ansan, Korea.
Background:
Sugammadex is a new neuromuscular blockade reversal agent. Recently, it has been used in patients under general anesthesia. However, sugammadex could be toxic to fetuses and pediatric patients under 3 years of age. In this study, we demonstrated the safety of sugammadex in fetuses, using zebrafish larvae. Furthermore, its neurotoxicity was evaluated using neuronal cell lines.
Methods:
We used SH-SY5Y cells to determine the viability of neuronal cells treated with sugammadex. Zebrafish larvae were used to determine the teratogenic effects of sugammadex.
Results:
Sugammadex showed no adverse effects on neuronal cells and zebrafish larvae. The survival rates of neuronal cells were not different in all concentrations. In addition, the heart formation of zebrafish embryos, which were exposed to various concentrations of sugammadex, were not different.
Conclusion:
This study demonstrated the feasibility of using sugammadex during pregnancy. However, further clinical studies will be required to extrapolate these results to humans.
