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Introdcution: The lack of a good animal model system for studying spinal deformities has hindered studying the etiology of scoliosis. Previously, the only animal model available for studying scoliosis was chickens exposed to copper, which caused spinal deformities. Recently, it has become clear that several fish species appear to exhibit spinal curvatures.
Objectives: To determine if the affected tissue in zebrafish with spinal deformities resembles the pathology observed in human patients with scoliosis and to develop a line of scoliosis zebrafish.
Materials and Methods: Fish were examined for the presence of Microsporidia parasites using organism specific primers and stains in PCR and histological preparations. Spinal curvatures of the affected fish measured by Faxitron image were developed in the thoracic, thoracolumbar, or lumbar regions.
Results: The degrees of the curvatures ranged from 18° to 40°. Histological data demonstrated structural changes as compared to normal fish spine. PCR analysis confirmed that these fish with spinal curvature were not infected by microsporidium and myxosporan parasites.
Conclusion and Significance: An increase of scoliosis in family members and the occurrence of abnormal spinal curvatures in twins suggest a polygenetic inheritance pattern. We have noticed several fish in our zebrafish colony with spinal curvatures reminiscent of human idiopathic scoliosis. We suspect that scoliosis in these zebrafish results from mutation(s) in the zebrafish genome. And these fish can be the source of a zebrafish line in which the offspring exhibit a predictable frequency of scoliosis which can be used to study the etiology and progression of scoliosis.
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