Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430072, China.
Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430072, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
Chemosphere. 2020 Jun;249:126172. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.126172. Epub 2020 Feb 12.
Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been increasingly manufactured and thus are increasingly detected in aquatic systems. However, there are still some overlooked factors (e.g., organism sex) in the field of nano-toxicological assessment. In this study, to explore the role of sex in nanotoxicity, adult male and female zebrafish were exposed to 100 μg/L of two uncoated commercial AgNPs with primary sizes 20 nm and 80 nm for 2 weeks, after which the impacts of AgNPs on intestines and livers of both male and female zebrafish were assessed using a suite of biomarkers. Results demonstrated that the intestinal Na/K-ATPase activity as well as the superoxide dismutase activity in male zebrafish differed significantly between 20-nm AgNPs and 80-nm AgNPs treatments (p < 0.05), indicating 20-nm AgNPs showing higher toxicity to zebrafish than the 80-nm AgNPs. Also, we noted that the used AgNPs induced sex-dependent effects on growth indices, oxidative/anti-oxidative status, neural signaling and hepatic lipid metabolism, with the male zebrafish being more sensitive to AgNPs than the females. Further, the tested AgNPs impaired the intestine much more seriously than the liver, as evidenced by the disruptions of Na/K-ATPase and antioxidant system in intestine but not in liver. These findings imply that prolonged exposure to AgNPs might induce size-related, sex-dependent, and organ-specific toxicity to adult zebrafish, thereby may significantly extend our understanding of the toxic effects of AgNPs in aquatic environment.
纳米银颗粒（AgNPs）的制造和使用日益增加，因此在水生系统中也越来越多地被检测到。然而，在纳米毒理学评估领域，仍有一些被忽视的因素（例如，生物体的性别）。在这项研究中，为了探索性别在纳米毒性中的作用，成年雄性和雌性斑马鱼分别暴露于两种未涂层的商业 AgNPs 中，这两种 AgNPs 的初级粒径分别为 20nm 和 80nm，浓度为 100μg/L，暴露时间为 2 周。然后，使用一系列生物标志物评估 AgNPs 对雄性和雌性斑马鱼的肠和肝的影响。结果表明，雄性斑马鱼的肠 Na/K-ATP 酶活性和超氧化物歧化酶活性在 20nm AgNPs 和 80nm AgNPs 处理之间存在显著差异（p<0.05），表明 20nm AgNPs 对斑马鱼的毒性高于 80nm AgNPs。此外，我们注意到，所使用的 AgNPs 对生长指数、氧化/抗氧化状态、神经信号和肝脂质代谢产生了性别依赖性影响，雄性斑马鱼比雌性斑马鱼对 AgNPs 更敏感。此外，测试的 AgNPs 对肠道的损伤比肝脏更严重，这表现在肠道中的 Na/K-ATP 酶和抗氧化系统被破坏，而肝脏中没有被破坏。这些发现表明，长期暴露于 AgNPs 可能会对成年斑马鱼产生与尺寸相关、性别依赖和器官特异性的毒性，从而可以更深入地了解 AgNPs 在水生环境中的毒性作用。
