Wang Zengjin, Zhang Congcong, Huang Fengyan, Liu Xiaojing, Wang Zhiping, Yan Bing
Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, 250012, PR China.
Institute of Environmental Research at Greater Bay, Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, PR China.
J Hazard Mater. 2021 Jan 15;402:123563. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123563. Epub 2020 Jul 28.
Ingestion of nanoparticles may cause various damages to human body. However, how such ingestion by pregnant mother influences fetal development is not known because, presumably, ingested nanoparticles have to cross multiple biological barriers (such as intestinal and placental) to reach fetus. To answer this crucial question, here we investigated how a relatively biocompatible zirconia nanoparticles (ZrO NPs, 16 nm) were translocated to fetal brains in three exposure models of pregnant mice: Model 1, oral exposure of nanoparticles before maternal blood-placental barrier (BPB) was fully developed; Model 2, exposures after BPB was developed, but before fetal blood-brain-barrier (BBB) was fully developed; Model 3, exposures after both maternal BPB and fetal BBB were fully developed. Our experimental results showed that translocation of ZrO NPs into fetal brains was 55 % higher in Model 2 and 96 % higher in Model 1 compared with that in Model 3 after nanoparticles (50 mg/kg) were orally exposed to pregnant mice. Therefore, nanoparticles are able to cross multiple biological barriers and nanotoxicity to fetus is highly dependent on stages of pregnancy and fetal development or the maturity of multiple biological barriers. Oral exposures to nanoparticles during pregnancy are dangerous to fetal brain development, especially in early pregnancy.
摄入纳米颗粒可能会对人体造成各种损害。然而，孕妇摄入纳米颗粒如何影响胎儿发育尚不清楚，因为据推测，摄入的纳米颗粒必须穿过多个生物屏障（如肠道和胎盘）才能到达胎儿体内。为了回答这个关键问题，我们在此研究了相对生物相容性较好的氧化锆纳米颗粒（ZrO NPs，16纳米）在三种怀孕小鼠暴露模型中是如何转运至胎儿大脑的：模型1，在母体血胎盘屏障（BPB）完全发育之前口服纳米颗粒；模型2，在BPB发育之后但胎儿血脑屏障（BBB）完全发育之前进行暴露；模型3，在母体BPB和胎儿BBB都完全发育之后进行暴露。我们的实验结果表明，在给怀孕小鼠口服纳米颗粒（50毫克/千克）后，与模型3相比，模型2中ZrO NPs转运至胎儿大脑的量高55%，模型1中则高96%。因此，纳米颗粒能够穿过多个生物屏障，并且对胎儿的纳米毒性高度依赖于怀孕阶段、胎儿发育情况或多个生物屏障的成熟度。孕期口服纳米颗粒对胎儿大脑发育是危险的，尤其是在怀孕早期。
