Bioassay in zebrafish for toxicological analysis of the abuse of ketamine

Abstract

Currently, the phenomenon of search for artificial paradises has attracted many people to experimentation and consumption of psychoactive substances with the proposal to reach new sensations and psycho-emotional states. The fact that this incessant search to be associated with the constant search for substances that produce more intense effects have significantly promoted the emergence of New Psychoactive Substances (NPSs). According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the NSPs are any psychoactive substance not unregulated and used to mimic the effects of controlled drugs. In general, these substances have partial toxicological properties (in the case of medicines of abuse, for example) or completely unknown (such as designer drugs) and are easily accessible for purchase and consumption, which sets a serious public health problem. Recent studies have explored the use of zebrafish as an alternative animal model for the analysis of drugs and pharmaceuticals. The zebrafish has physiological similarities with humans, fully sequenced genome and reliable behavioral responses. However, there are not zebrafish bioassays for quantification of many drugs in a biological sample from the animal, especially for new psychoactive substances such as ketamine. The project consists of a study of Experimental Toxicology, to identify and elucidate the effects of the toxic action of ketamine in zebrafish, and Analytical Toxicology, to identify and quantify ketamine in biological fluids of the animal. More specifically, the objectives of this study are to evaluate the viability of using a zebrafish (Danio rerio) as an animal model of exposure to ketamine, evaluate the effects induced by the toxic action of ketamine in zebrafish by behavioral responses and develop an analytical method for detecting and quantifying this drug in the animal's eyeball by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. (AU)