Developmental disorders caused by cefixime in the otic vesicles of zebrafish embryos or larvae

To explore the developmental toxicity of cefixime (CE) in the developmental disorder and toxicity mechanism of CE on otic vesicles, zebrafish embryos were used as an animal model. The results showed that CE increased mortality in a dose-dependent manner and decreased the hatching rate of zebrafish larva at 96 hpf. Interestingly, CE significantly reduced the area of the saccule and utricle, as well as the area of otic vesicles in zebrafish larvae (p 0.001). Fibroblast growth factor 8a (Fgf8a) inhibitors and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) inhibitors caused similar morphological changes. CE decreased the lateral hair cells of zebrafish larvae in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, CE caused the downregulation of cartilage and bone-related genes and Na