The safety of medicinal and edible Chinese herbal medicine (MECM) is a critical scientific issue limiting its modern application. Given its complex chemical composition and unclear toxicity mechanisms, there is an urgent need to establish efficient and systematic in vivo evaluation models. This review systematically elaborates on the research progress and application framework of the zebrafish model in this field. We have constructed a comprehensive evaluation framework covering acute/chronic toxicity and multi-organ toxicity, including cardiotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, and developmental toxicity. Through a critical analysis of existing studies, this paper further indicates that the zebrafish model demonstrates unique value in elucidating ‘component-target organ’ associations, simulating metabolic toxicity (e.g. herb-induced liver injury), and revealing interactions among multiple components. However, limitations remain in the depth of mechanistic exploration and the systematic correlation between chemical fingerprints and toxic effects. In conclusion, this review demonstrates that the zebrafish model, as an integrated in vivo platform, can effectively bridge the assessment gap between traditional in vitro models and mammalian models. It provides crucial methodological support and evidence-based rationale for pre-clinical safety risk assessment, toxicity mechanism research, and scientific regulation of MECM.
Lu et al. (Sat,) studied this question.