Effects of ochratoxin A on apoptosis during embryonic development of Zebrafish.

Ochratoxin A (OTA), a toxin produced by Aspergillus ochraceus and Penicillium verrucosum, is one of the most abundant food contaminating mycotoxins. we performed a toxicity test on zebrafish embryos at concentrations of 1 mg/L, 100 μg/L, 10 μg/L, 1 μg/L OTA. In this work we observed the induction of apoptosis by OTA in zebrafish embryos. In particular, apoptosis was evaluated as a direct result of oxidative stress and increased levels of lipid peroxidation using the system of deoxynucleotide terminal transferase (TUNEL). This method was performed on zebrafish embryos in the presence of 10 μg/L OTA. In 144 hpf embryos treated, however, has been observed that apoptotic events were more marked than the control. The results obtained by TUNEL were in agreement with the findings of recent studies linking an increase in apoptosis of ochratoxin A by the ability to induce oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation.