State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330047, PR China; The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330000, PR China.
State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330047, PR China.
J Hazard Mater. 2016 Nov 15;318:61-69. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2016.06.048. Epub 2016 Jun 25.
In this study, the effects of cadmium containing QDs (such as CdSe/ZnS and CdSe QDs) and bulk CdCl2 in pregnant mice, their fetuses, and the pregnancy outcomes were investigated. It was shown that although the QDs and bulk CdCl2 were effectively blocked by the placental barrier, the damage on the placenta caused by CdSe QDs still led to fetus malformation, while the mice in CdSe/ZnS QDs treatment group exhibited slightly hampered growth but showed no significant abnormalities. Moreover, the Cd contents in the placenta and the uterus of CdSe QDs and CdSe/ZnS QDs treatment groups showed significantly higher than the CdCl2 treated group which indicated that the nanoscale size of the QDs allowed relative ease of entry into the gestation tissues. In addition, the CdSe QDs more effectively altered the expression levels of susceptive genes related to cell apoptosis, dysplasia, metal transport, cryptorrhea, and oxidative stress, etc. These findings suggested that the nanoscale size of the QDs were probably more important than the free Cd in inducing toxicity. Furthermore, the results indicated that the outer surface shell coating played a protective role in the adverse effects of QDs on late pregnancy mice.
本研究探讨了含镉量子点（如 CdSe/ZnS 和 CdSe 量子点）和块状 CdCl2 对怀孕小鼠、其胎儿和妊娠结局的影响。结果表明，尽管胎盘屏障有效地阻止了 QDs 和块状 CdCl2 的进入，但 CdSe 量子点对胎盘造成的损害仍导致胎儿畸形，而 CdSe/ZnS 量子点处理组的小鼠生长略受阻碍，但没有明显异常。此外，CdSe 量子点和 CdSe/ZnS 量子点处理组胎盘和子宫中的 Cd 含量明显高于 CdCl2 处理组，这表明 QDs 的纳米尺寸允许相对容易进入妊娠组织。此外，CdSe 量子点更有效地改变了与细胞凋亡、发育不良、金属转运、隐窝和氧化应激等相关的易感基因的表达水平。这些发现表明，QDs 的纳米尺寸可能比游离 Cd 更重要，会诱导毒性。此外，结果表明，外表面壳涂层对 QDs 对妊娠晚期小鼠的不良影响起到了保护作用。
