Assessment of thimerosal effects in sublethal concentrations on zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos exploring NMR-based metabolomics profile.

Thimerosal, a preservative commonly used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry, has raised concerns regarding its potentially toxic effects as an organic mercury compound. Within this context, using an NMR-based metabolomics profile and chemometric analysis, zebrafish embryos were used as an in vivo model to study the effects of thimerosal in metabolic profiles after exposure to sublethal concentrations of the mercury compound. The thimerosal concentrations of 40 and 80 nM were employed, corresponding to 40% and 80% of the LC50, respectively, for zebrafish embryos. The most significant alterations in the metabolic profile included changes in carbohydrates, amino acids, nucleotides, trimethylamine-N-oxide, ethanolamine, betaine, and ethanol. Furthermore, thimerosal exposure affects various metabolic pathways, impairing the nervous system, disrupting protein metabolism, and potentially causing oxidative damage. Therefore, adopting a metabolomics approach in this investigation provided insights into the potentially implicated metabolic pathways contributing to the deleterious effects of thimerosal in biological systems.