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Facilitating Drug Discovery: An Automated High-content Inflammation Assay in Zebrafish
Published on: July 16, 2012
From plant disease to protective agent: tea blister blight aqueous extract restore copper-induced oxidative and
Jiaqi Liu1, Nguyen Huy Hoang2,3,4, Yuqing Ma5
1Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Biodiversity Conservation in Southwest China, Yunnan Academy of Biodiversity, Key Laboratory of Forest Disaster Warning and Control in Yunnan Province, Ancient Tea Tree Research Center, College of Forestry, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, China.
Background:
Oxidative stress and inflammation play key pathological mechanisms involved in the development of chronic diseases. Although tea blister blight reduces commercial tea quality, pathogen-induced stress may enhance the accumulation of bioactive phenolics and flavonoids, making infected leaves a potential resource for the food-medicine homology framework. This study aimed to evaluate the protective effects of a tea blister blight aqueous extract (TBB) against copper sulfate (CuSO4)-induced oxidative and inflammatory stress in zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos.
Methods:
Zebrafish embryos were exposed to 3 μM CuSO4 and co-treated with TBB at concentrations of 0.3-0.9 mg/mL. Developmental toxicity was evaluated based on survival, hatching, and morphological outcomes. Oxidative stress was assessed by measuring malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and antioxidant enzyme activities, including superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT). The expression of genes related to antioxidant defense, inflammation, and apoptosis was also analyzed.
Results:
TBB treatment significantly increased embryo survival by 12.74-15.81% and the hatching rate by 46.12-51.38% than the CuSO4-exposed group. TBB also reduced CuSO4-induced developmental toxicity by increasing body length by 15.38-16.35% and improving the sinus venosus-bulbus arteriosus distance by 10.40-14.80%. In addition, TBB significantly mitigated oxidative stress by reducing MDA levels by 16.74-25.61% and enhancing SOD and CAT activities by 31.29-72.35% and 69.66-92.37%, respectively. Gene expression analysis showed that TBB upregulated antioxidant-related genes (Mn-sod, CAT, and Gpx1a), suppressed proinflammatory genes (TNF-α, NF-κB, NLRP3, and IL-1β), and downregulated the pro-apoptotic gene bax, while enhancing anti-inflammatory (IL-10) and anti-apoptotic (Bcl-2) expression.
Conclusion:
These findings demonstrate that TBB provides multilevel biological protection through antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic mechanisms. Importantly, this study provides a new perspective by demonstrating that tea leaves infected with tea blister blight disease, rather than being discarded or managed solely through fungicide application, can be valorized as a bioactive-enriched resource for applications in functional nutrition and health-promoting products.
