Toxicity of 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) on oligodendrocytes during embryonic zebrafish development

Ryann Henry; Reagan Vander Heide; Nicole M Roy

doi:10.1016/j.etap.2025.104627

Toxicity of 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) on oligodendrocytes during embryonic zebrafish development

Environ Toxicol Pharmacol. 2025 Jan 3:114:104627. doi: 10.1016/j.etap.2025.104627. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Ryann Henry¹, Reagan Vander Heide¹, Nicole M Roy²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT, United States.
² Department of Biology, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT, United States. Electronic address: royn@sacredheart.edu.

PMID: 39756717
DOI: 10.1016/j.etap.2025.104627

Abstract

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are flame retardants heavily utilized across plastic, textile and electronic industries. Although these PBDEs are effective in protecting property and human life from fire, their high production volumes have led PBDEs to become pervasive environmental contaminants and pose an ecological and health risk as high levels have been noted in environmental media including water and sediment, wildlife and human tissue. Here we investigate the developmental neurotoxicity of 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47), one of the more dominant PBDE congeners found in human tissue, on oligodendrocytes in the hindbrain and spinal cord. We utilized the zebrafish vertebrate model system and investigated low (5 µM) and high concentrations (20 µM) of BDE-47. We find that by 6 days post-fertilization, BDE-47 negatively affects oligodendrocyte development in the hindbrain and spinal cord in a concentration dependent manner.

Keywords: BDE-47; Myelin; Oligodendrocyte; Toxicity; Zebrafish.