Teratogenic Potential Of Traditional Malaysian Vegetables (Ulam) In The Zebrafish Model

Purpose Traditional Malaysian vegetables, also known asulam, are believed to have healing properties among the local community.Ulamis commonly reported to have high antioxidant content which makes it a popular food. The purpose of this paper is to determine the teratogenic potential of eightulam, using zebrafish model. The testedulamwereCosmos caudatus,Gynura procumbens,Labisia pumilavar.alata, Phaleria macrocarpa,Polygonum minus,Piper sarmentosum,Premna foetidaandSauropus androgynous. Design/methodology/approach Methanol extract ofulamwas prepared using the maceration method. Various concentrations of extracts were tested against fish embryo short-term toxicity test. The lethal concentration (LC50) and teratogenic effect of theulamwere determined. Findings Among all tested species,L. pumila,P. foetidaandS. androgynousshowed 100% lethal effect towards zebrafish embryos at concentrations of 10 mu g/mL, 1,000 mu g/mL and 100 mu g/mL, respectively. The threeulamhave exhibited teratogenic effect on zebrafish embryos after 72 h post-fertilization.L. pumilahad induced yolk sac edema at 1.0 mu g/mL for normalized measurement of 108.3 +/- 2.0% (which is higher than negative control,p < 0.05, median = 110.7%), whileP. foetidahad induced pericardial edema at 100 mu g/mL for normalized measurement of 124.0 +/- 4.6% (which is higher than negative control,p < 0.05, median = 124.3%). On the other hand,S. androgynusinduced curve trunk at 30 mu g/mL for the presence of 70.9 +/- 4.2%. Originality/value The teratogenic effect ofL. pumila,P. foetidaandS. androgynoussuggests the possible disruption in the embryogenesis in zebrafish, namely Notch, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and retinoic acid pathways. The results ofulamgave possible implications and insights on the cancer pathways involved, which could be a useful target for cancer research. This is the first report on teratogenicity evaluation of Malaysianulamshowing relationship to cancer pathways by using zebrafish embryo model.