Data from: Automated morphological feature assessment for zebrafish embryo developmental toxicity screens

Detection of developmental phenotypes in zebrafish embryos typically
involves a visual assessment and scoring of morphological features by an
individual researcher. Subjective scoring could impact results and be of
particular concern when phenotypic effect patterns are also used as a
diagnostic tool to classify compounds. Here we introduce a quantitative
morphometric approach based on image analysis of zebrafish embryos. A
software called FishInspector was developed to detect morphological
features from images collected using an automated system to position
zebrafish embryos. The analysis was verified and compared with visual
assessments of three participating laboratories using three known
developmental toxicants (methotrexate, dexamethasone and topiramate) and
two negative compounds (loratadine and glibenclamide). The quantitative
approach exhibited higher sensitivity and made it possible to compare
patterns of effects with the potential to establish a grouping and
classification of developmental toxicants. Our approach improves the
robustness of phenotype scoring and reliability of assay performance and,
hence, is anticipated to improve the predictivity of developmental
toxicity screening using the zebrafish embryo.