Toxicity assessment of collagen from Decapterus macarellus: a zebrafish model study

Abstract Background Collagen, derived from various biological sources, is crucial in supporting a range of physiological processes and developmental pathways. However, concerns have been raised regarding the potential teratogenic effects of collagen. The zebrafish ( Danio rerio ) model has emerged as a premier vertebrate model for investigating the impact of biomaterials on vertebrate development, both under normal and pathological conditions. The present study sought to assess the acute toxicity, developmental toxicity, cardiotoxicity, and teratogenic toxicity of fish collagen extracted from Decapterus macarellus fish species on various developmental parameters. Acid-solubilized collagen was extracted from D. macarellus , and zebrafish embryos (< 96 h) were subsequently exposed to varying collagen concentrations of 62.5 parts per million (ppm), 125 ppm, 250 ppm, 500 ppm, and 1000 ppm. Key developmental parameters, including survival rate, hatching rate, heart rate, and deviations in four apical points: embryo coagulation, lack of somite formation, non-detachment of the tail, and lack of heartbeat observations were recorded over a period of 0–96 h post-fertilization (hpf). Positive and negative controls were parallelly carried out analysing the results statistically with pairwise Kruskal–Wallis test followed by a Dunn pairwise test. Results The results indicated that the survival rate of zebrafish embryos ranged from 96.97 ± 5.25 to 82.28 ± 9.80% at 96 hpf across all tested collagen concentrations. No significant differences were observed ( P > 0.05) compared to the negative control group or between the various treated concentrations. The hatching rate at 48 hpf and heart rates at 72 hpf and 96 hpf in the treated groups showed no significant variations compared to the negative control ( P > 0.05). Furthermore, no abnormal changes were recorded in the four apical points; embryo coagulation, lack of somite formation, non-detachment of the tail, and lack of heartbeat in embryos, treated with collagen. All the observed results cumulatively indicated the nontoxic effect of collagen from D. macarellus on zebrafish embryo development. Conclusions The results confirm the extracted from D. macarellus is nontoxic and causes no teratogenic effects in zebrafish embryo development. It further validates the potential of using collagen as a biocompatible material, where non-toxicity and developmental safety are paramount.