Effects of the chronic exposure to cerium dioxide nanoparticles in Oncorhynchus mykiss: Assessment of oxidative stress, neurotoxicity and histological alterations

Abstract

Cerium dioxide nanoparticles (CeO₂-NPs) have a variety of uses, especially in the production of solar panels, oxygen pumps, gas sensors, computer chips and catalytic converters. Despite their worldwide use, the few published studies demonstrate that metallic nanoparticles, in general, are still not properly characterized in terms of their potencial ecotoxicological effects. CeO₂-NPs, in particular, have demonstrated extreme antioxidant activity, but their in vivo toxicity is still unknown. This work intended to characterize the chronic toxicity (28 days) of three different ecologically relevant concentrations (0.1, 0.01, and 0.001 μg/L) of CeO₂-NPs in the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), in terms of biomarkers of oxidative stress [activity of the enzymes glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) and catalase (CAT)] and neurotoxicity [activity of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE)], as well as histological alterations in liver and gills. In the hereby study, GSTs activity was increased in gills of fish exposed to the highest CeO₂-NPs level. Moreover, a potential anti-oxidant response was also reported, with a significant increase of CAT activity observed in livers of the same fish. AChE, however, was not significantly altered in fish eyes. Individuals exposed to CeO₂-NPs also presented marked changes in the gills (e.g. epithelial lifting, intercellular edema, lamellar hypertrophy and hyperplasia, secondary lamella fusion and aneurysms) and liver (e.g. hepatocyte vacuolization, pyknotic nucleus, enlargement of sinusoids and hyperemia). The semi-quantitative analysis (organs pathological index) also showed the establishment of a dose-effect relationship. Further studies about the ecotoxicological effects of the CeO₂-NPs have yet to be conducted, considering their properties, as the aggregation chemistry and the ratio of its redox state, which may affect their availability to the organism and their toxicity in the environment and biota.

Keywords: Biomarkers; Ecotoxicology; Exposure; Fish; Nanomaterials.