Triphenyl phosphate-induced pericardial edema is associated with elevated epidermal ionocytes within zebrafish embryos

Triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) is an organophosphate ester-based plasticizer and flame retardant. The objective of this study was to identify the potential role of epidermal ionocytes in mediating TPHP-induced pericardial edema within zebrafish embryos. Exposure to TPHP from 24 to 72 h post fertilization (hpf) resulted in a significant increase in pericardial edema and the number of ionocytes at 72 hpf relative to time-matched embryos treated with vehicle. In addition, co-exposure of embryos to mannitol (an osmotic diuretic) blocked TPHP-induced pericardial edema and effects on ionocyte abundance. However, knockdown of ATPase1a1.4 – an abundant Na+/K+-ATPase localized to epidermal ionocytes – mitigated TPHP-induced effects on ionocyte abundance but not pericardial edema, whereas co-exposure of embryos to ouabain – a Na+/K+-ATPase inhibitor – enhanced TPHP-induced pericardial edema but not ionocyte abundance. Overall, our findings suggest that TPHP may have multiple mechanisms of toxicity leading to an increase in ionocyte abundance and pericardial edema within developing zebrafish embryos.