Hepatorenal Toxicity after 7-Day Oral Administration of Low-Dose Tetrodotoxin and Its Distribution in the Main Tissues in Mice.

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a highly toxic compound detected in various edible marine animals even in European waters. To characterize the hazard by oral exposure to TTX, its tissue distribution was evaluated after single (75 µg/kg) or 7-day (25-125 µg/kg) oral administration in mice. Moreover, TTX liver and renal toxicity was evaluated after 7-day oral administration. The elimination cycle of a single oral dose of TTX (75 µg/kg) was found to be approximately 168 h (7 days). Daily oral administration of TTX at doses of 25, 75, and 125 µg/kg for 7 consecutive days revealed dose-dependent toxic effects on the liver and kidney. Histopathological examination showed increased inflammatory cell infiltration in the liver and kidney with higher TTX doses, along with disorganization of the hepatic cord and renal tubular cell arrangement. The study results indicated that TTX had more hepatotoxicity than nephrotoxicity in mice. These findings provide insights into the unintentional ingestion of a low dose of TTX in mammals, including humans, and emphasize the importance of food safety.

UPLC-MS/MS Method for Simultaneous Determination of Valnemulin and Its Metabolites in Crucian Carp: In Vivo Metabolism and Tissue Distribution Analyses.

Valnemulin (VML) is a semi-synthetic pleuromutilin derivative widely used to treat animal bacterial diseases. However, no study has comprehensively evaluated VML metabolism in aquatic animals, including crucian carp. This study aimed to investigate VML metabolism in crucian carp. VML metabolites in crucian carp were quantified via intraperitoneal injection and analyzed via ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Three VML metabolites were detected in crucian carp via ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem quadrupole and time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) structural analysis. The enrichment and metabolism rules of the metabolites were summarized based on tissue distribution and concentration changes of the three metabolites. The metabolites were mainly found in the liver at 0.1 h after VML injection. The levels of the metabolites were abundant in the bile from 4 h to 12 h and in the skin after 72 h. The levels of the metabolites in the bile first increased, then decreased. The metabolism in the liver was completed at 72 h. The metabolites were detected in the skin following a 72 h period, which increased with time.

Weakening the Aggregations of Polymer Chains toward Efficient Non-Fullerene Polymer Solar Cells.

The 2D asymmetric benzodithiophene (BDT) unit is used as a donor unit to construct one new polymer PBDTBDD-Th with benzo[1,2-c:4,5-c']dithiophene-4,8-dione (BDD) as acceptor building block. In comparison to the polymer PBDTsTh-BDD with a side chain containing a sulfur atom, the devices based on PBDTBDD-Th/ITIC show better performance due to the introduction of carbon atoms in the side chain, which could weaken the self-aggregations of polymer chains. As a result, the devices based on PBDTBDD-Th/ITIC blends yield power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) over 10%, much higher than those based on PBDTsTh-BDD/ITIC blends (7.09%). The exciton dissociation probabilities (P diss ) of a device based on PBDTBDD-Th/ITIC blends is 95.3%, which suggests that the device achieves good exciton dissociation and charge transfer. In general, the polymer PBDTBDD-Th shows capability to increase the PCEs of polymer solar cells (PSCs) with a non-fullerene acceptor.