Li Xiangtong, Huang Yuequn, Li Wenrong, Deng Chaoyang, Cao Weiyuan, Yao Yi
Guangxi Key Laboratory of Theory and Technology for Environmental Pollution Control, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541006, China.
Engineering Research Center of Watershed Protection and Green Development, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541006, China.
Toxics. 2025 Jan 12;13(1):53. doi: 10.3390/toxics13010053.
A considerable quantity of microplastic debris exists in the environment and the toxicity of these materials has a notable impact on aquatic ecosystems. In this paper, 50-500 µm polystyrene microplastics (exposure concentrations were 200 µg/L, 800 µg/L, and 3200 µg/L concentrations) were selected to study the effects of polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) on cell morphology, detoxification enzyme activity, and mRNA expression in the liver tissues of crucian carp juveniles. The results demonstrated that: (1) Different concentrations of PS-MPs cause varying degrees of pathological and oxidative damage to liver tissue cells of crucian carp. The higher the concentration of microplastics, the lower the antioxidant enzyme (CAT, GST, SOD) activity and the greater the tissue cell damage. These results demonstrate a typical dose-effect relationship. (2) Principal component analysis and Spearman's correlation analysis demonstrated that four components, namely glutathione S-transferase (GST) and its related genes (, ), along with catalase (CAT), contributed the most to the observed outcome. These four components demonstrated a relatively high level of responsiveness to PS-MP exposure and can be employed as ecotoxicological indicators of microplastics. (3) This experiment evaluated five genes in three treatments, which found that PS-MPs had different effects on gene expression in the liver and the tested genes were involved in different response pathways associated with virulence. In this study, the toxicity of PS-MPs to crucian carp was determined at the cellular, protein, and mRNA expression levels, and combined with principal component analysis and correlation analysis to identify response sensitivity indicators that provide a scientific basis for ecological risk assessment and the safe use of microplastics.
环境中存在大量的微塑料碎片，这些物质的毒性对水生生态系统有显著影响。本文选取50 - 500 µm的聚苯乙烯微塑料（暴露浓度分别为200 µg/L、800 µg/L和3200 µg/L），研究聚苯乙烯微塑料（PS - MPs）对鲫鱼幼鱼肝脏组织细胞形态、解毒酶活性及mRNA表达的影响。结果表明：（1）不同浓度的PS - MPs对鲫鱼肝脏组织细胞造成不同程度的病理和氧化损伤。微塑料浓度越高，抗氧化酶（CAT、GST、SOD）活性越低，组织细胞损伤越大。这些结果呈现出典型的剂量 - 效应关系。（2）主成分分析和Spearman相关性分析表明，谷胱甘肽S - 转移酶（GST）及其相关基因（ ， ）以及过氧化氢酶（CAT）这四个成分对观察结果的贡献最大。这四个成分对PS - MP暴露表现出较高的响应水平，可作为微塑料的生态毒理学指标。（3）本实验评估了三种处理中的五个基因，发现PS - MPs对肝脏中的基因表达有不同影响，且所测基因参与了与毒力相关的不同反应途径。本研究在细胞、蛋白质和mRNA表达水平上测定了PS - MPs对鲫鱼的毒性，并结合主成分分析和相关性分析，确定了响应敏感指标，为微塑料的生态风险评估和安全使用提供了科学依据。
