Zhang Xin, Xu Yan, Zhou Lian, Zhang Chengcheng, Meng Qingtao, Wu Shenshen, Wang Shizhi, Ding Zhen, Chen Xiaodong, Li Xiaobo, Chen Rui
Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China.
Department of Environmental Health and Endemic Disease Control, Jiangsu Provincial, Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Nanjing 210009, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2015 Dec 9;12(12):15692-705. doi: 10.3390/ijerph121215011.
Ultrafine aluminum oxide, which are abundant in ambient and involved occupational environments, are associated with neurobehavioral alterations. However, few studies have focused on the effect of sex differences following exposure to environmental Al₂O₃ ultrafine particles. In the present study, male and female mice were exposed to Al₂O₃ nanoparticles (NPs) through a respiratory route. Only the female mice showed depression-like behavior. Although no obvious pathological changes were observed in mice brain tissues, the neurotransmitter and voltage-gated ion channel related gene expression, as well as the small molecule metabolites in the cerebral cortex, were differentially modulated between male and female mice. Both mental disorder-involved gene expression levels and metabolomics analysis results strongly suggested that glutamate pathways were implicated in sex differentiation induced by Al₂O₃ NPs. Results demonstrated the potential mechanism of environmental ultrafine particle-induced depression-like behavior and the importance of sex dimorphism in the toxic research of environmental chemicals.
环境和职业环境中大量存在的超细氧化铝与神经行为改变有关。然而，很少有研究关注暴露于环境中的氧化铝超细颗粒后性别差异的影响。在本研究中，雄性和雌性小鼠通过呼吸道暴露于氧化铝纳米颗粒（NPs）。只有雌性小鼠表现出抑郁样行为。虽然在小鼠脑组织中未观察到明显的病理变化，但雄性和雌性小鼠之间神经递质和电压门控离子通道相关基因的表达以及大脑皮层中的小分子代谢物受到了不同的调节。涉及精神障碍的基因表达水平和代谢组学分析结果均强烈表明，谷氨酸途径与氧化铝纳米颗粒诱导的性别分化有关。结果证明了环境超细颗粒诱导抑郁样行为的潜在机制以及性别二态性在环境化学物质毒性研究中的重要性。
