Evaluation of the Toxicity of Sugammadex in Zebrafish Larvae

BACKGROUND: Sugammadex is a new neuromuscular blockade reversal agent. Recently, it has been used in patients under general anesthesia. However, sugammadex could be toxic to fetuses and pediatric patients under 3 years of age. In this study, we demonstrated the safety of sugammadex in fetuses, using zebrafish larvae. Furthermore, its neurotoxicity was evaluated using neuronal cell lines. METHODS: We used SH-SY5Y cells to determine the viability of neuronal cells treated with sugammadex. Zebrafish larvae were used to determine the teratogenic effects of sugammadex. RESULTS: Sugammadex showed no adverse effects on neuronal cells and zebrafish larvae. The survival rates of neuronal cells were not different in all concentrations. In addition, the heart formation of zebrafish embryos, which were exposed to various concentrations of sugammadex, were not different. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated the feasibility of using sugammadex during pregnancy. However, further clinical studies will be required to extrapolate these results to humans.