School of Geography and Biological Information, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, China.
Key Laboratory for Organic Electronics and Information Displays & Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biosensors, Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, China.
J Appl Toxicol. 2022 Nov;42(11):1757-1765. doi: 10.1002/jat.4352. Epub 2022 Jun 7.
Although quantum dots (QDs) have shown great potential for various biomedical applications, their potential toxicity still needs to be comprehensively investigated. Previous studies showed that intravenous exposure of CdTe QDs at low concentration did not lead to obvious in vivo toxicity in the long term. However, the influence of CdTe QDs on the gut microbiota and the intestine is still unknown. Here, we explored whether single intravenous injection of CdTe QDs at low concentration can affect the gut microbiota and intestine of mice in short term. The results showed that CdTe QDs caused an imbalance of gut microbiota, especially the rapid increase in Lactobacillus on day 1 post-treatment. Meanwhile, the intestine exhibited the promotion of oxidative stress, inflammatory response, and hemorrhaging on days 5 and 15. These results demonstrate that the gut microbiota and the intestine are very sensitive to the toxicity of low-concentration CdTe QDs. This study provides further insight and method for the biosafety evaluation of nanomaterials.
虽然量子点 (QDs) 在各种生物医学应用中显示出巨大的潜力，但它们的潜在毒性仍需要全面研究。先前的研究表明，低浓度的 CdTe QDs 静脉内暴露在长期内不会导致明显的体内毒性。然而，CdTe QDs 对肠道微生物群和肠道的影响仍不清楚。在这里，我们探讨了低浓度的 CdTe QDs 单次静脉注射是否会在短期内影响小鼠的肠道微生物群和肠道。结果表明，CdTe QDs 导致肠道微生物群失衡，特别是在处理后第 1 天，乳酸杆菌迅速增加。同时，肠道在第 5 天和第 15 天表现出氧化应激、炎症反应和出血的促进作用。这些结果表明，肠道微生物群和肠道对低浓度 CdTe QDs 的毒性非常敏感。本研究为纳米材料的生物安全性评价提供了进一步的见解和方法。
