Aluminium chloride-induced toxicity in zebrafish larvae

Embryos at shield stage and larvae at protruding mouth stage were exposed to different concentrations of aluminium chloride (AlCl3) for 72h with the purpose to analyse their phenotype and lethality. After 24, 48 and 72h of treatment, higher toxicity of the metal was observed on larvae with minimal lethal concentration of 0.25, 0.20 and 0.08mm, respectively, while for embryos the corresponding values were 40, 25 and 16mm. We observed pericardial oedema and alteration of heart rate in 50% of larvae after 48h of exposure to 100m. In larvae exposed to the same concentration, there was also a neurological injury at the level of glial cells, with the number of glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive cells being significantly reduced. This study confirms the toxic nature of this metal and shows that aluminium could also interestingly represent a cardiotoxin in addition to its neurotoxic ability.