3.2. Effect of DA non-selective antagonists and agonists on zebrafish response to electricity
Here, we investigated the effect of butaclamol and apomorphine (non-selective DA antagonists and agonists, respectively) on the electric-induced locomotor activity of larvae in our microfluidic device (Fig. 3A). Then, the larvae treated with butaclamol was post treated with apomorphine to examine the combined effect of the non-selective DA antagonist and agonist on zebrafish locomotor response, for the first time. As shown in Fig. 3B and 3C, the RD and TBF of zebrafish larvae obtained for the control and apomorphine-exposed groups were statistically similar (P-value>0.05), showing that apomorphine treatment did not affect the electrically induced response of zebrafish larvae. However, zebrafish receiving butaclamol exhibited 51% and 27% reduction in the average RD and TBF, respectively, which were both statistically significant. Post treatment with apomorphine rescued the electric-induced locomotor responses and resulted in a 71% increase in RD and 33% increase in TBF. There was no statistical difference between the control group and the post-treated larvae (P-value>0.05), demonstrating an improvement of locomotor function under treatment of butaclamol-exposed zebrafish larvae with apomorphine due to an increase in DA concentration.