Exposure of zebrafish larvae to water accommodated fractions of weathered crude oil alters steroid hormone concentrations with minimal effect on cholesterol

Abstract Crude oil has multiple toxic effects in fish, particularly early life stages. Recent transcriptomics studies have highlighted a potential effect on cholesterol homeostasis and biosynthesis, but have not investigated effects on steroid hormones, which are biosynthetically downstream metabolites of cholesterol. We exposed zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos and larvae to 3 concentrations of a high energy water accommodated fraction (HEWAF) of crude oil and measured effects on cholesterol and steroid hormones at 48 and 96 hours post fertilization (hpf). HEWAF exposure caused a small decrease in cholesterol at 96 hpf but not 48 hpf. HEWAF-exposed larvae had higher levels of androstenedione, testosterone, estradiol, cortisol, corticosterone, and progesterone at 96 hpf compared to controls, while effects at 48 hpf were more modest or not present. 2-Methoxyestradiol was lower following HEWAF exposure at both time points. Dihydrotestosterone was elevated in one HEWAF concentration at 48 hpf only. Our results suggest that hormone imbalance may be an important toxic effect of oil HEWAF exposure despite no major effect on their biosynthetic precursor cholesterol.