Bioaccumulation and toxicity effects of flubendiamide in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Flubendiamide is a widely used diamide insecticide with many adverse effects on environmental organisms. This study assessed its bioaccumulation and toxicity effects in zebrafish (Danio rerio) using LC-MS/MS. The concentrations of flubendiamide in the whole zebrafish increased in the early stages and achieved steady levels at 14 days. The bioconcentration factors (BCFs) of flubendiamide was 1.125-2.011. Although flubendiamide did not significantly affect the growth phenotypes of zebrafish, it significantly changed the hepatic somatic index (HSI) of zebrafish. Histopathological analysis showed that flubendiamide could cause structural damage to the liver tissue of zebrafish. Further physiological and biochemical analysis showed that flubendiamide significantly changed the activity of catalase (CAT) and the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) in liver of zebrafish. Moreover, flubendiamide significantly changed the mRNA expression levels of cell apoptosis-related genes, including p53, puma, caspase-3, caspase-9, apaf-1, and bax in liver of zebrafish. In summary, these results indicate that flubendiamide can cause liver damage by inducing oxidative stress and apoptosis in the liver of zebrafish. This study provides a background for further safety evaluation of flubendiamide to aquatic organisms.