Comparative Teratogenic and Skin whitening effect of Herbal extract Glycyrrhiza glabra and Citrus sineus on Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Objective: To determine acute toxicity and Synergistic effect of the anti-melanogenic activity of methanolic extract Glycyrrhiza glabra and Citrus sineus on zebrafish. Materials and method: Fish embryo toxicity (FET) was studied as per OECD guidelines 236. The LC50 and maximum non-lethal concentration of both the extracts were calculated. The images of zebrafish larvae exposed to different concentrations of methanolic extracts and their combination were taken by using labomed digital microscope. The skin whitening effect of extract was studied by measuring integrated density of images by using imageJ software Result: LC50 Value and maximum non-lethal concentration of methanolic extracts of Glycyrrhiza glabra and Citrus sineus were found to be 56.23ppm and 34.7ppm respectively. The result revealed significant reduction in percentage hatchability (p < 0.0014 for glycyrrhiza glabra and p<0.0011 for Citrus sinenus), dose dependant increased in percentage mortality and different developmental morphological abnormalities in zebrafish embryos exposed to the methanolic extracts Glycyrrhiza glabra and Citrus sineus. The synergistic effect of herbal extracts was found to be more effective in reducing the melanin content. Conclusion: Very High concentration of Glycyrrhiza glabra and Citrus Sineus showed teratogenic effect in zebrafish embryoes. However, based on OECD aquatic toxicity classification, both the extracts were found to be safe. Our study also revealed synergestic skin whitening effect of both the extracts in zebrafish larvae which might be due to reduction of melatonin content by these extracts.