Potency matters: Impacts of embryonic exposure to nAChR agonists thiamethoxam and nicotine on hatching success, growth, and neurobehavior in larval zebrafish.

Thiamethoxam (TM) is a neonicotinoid insecticide that acts as a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) agonist. While designed to specifically target invertebrate nAChRs, recent studies have reported adverse effects of neonicotinoid exposure in early life-stage fish. This study examined the health and neurobehavioral impacts of chronic exposure to various concentrations of TM or nicotine (NIC) in early life zebrafish () in conjunction with molecular docking to compare their ligand-receptor interactions with vertebrate nAChR.