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.