abstract
The question of whether gold (Au) is more toxic as nanoparticles or in its ionic form remains unclear and controversial.The present work aimed to clarify the effects of 96 h exposure to4, 80 and 1600 mu g.L-1 of 7 nm gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) - (citrate coated (cAuNPs) or polyvinylpyrrolidone coated (PVP-AuNPs)) -and ionic Au ( iAu) on gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata). Effects at different levels of biological organization (behaviour, neurotransmission, biotransformation, oxidative stress/damage and genotoxicity) were assessed. cAuNPs induced oxidative stress and damage (lipid peroxidation increase), even at 4 mu g.L-1, and reduced the ability of S. aurata to swim against a water flow at 1600 mu g.L-1. Exposure to cAuNPs induced more adverse effects than exposure to PVPAuNPs. All tested concentrations of Au (nano or ionic form) induced DNA breaks and cytogenetic damage in erythrocytes of S. aurata. Generally, iAu induced significantly more effects in fish than the nano form, probably associated with the significantly higher accumulation in the fish tissues. No fish mortality was observed following exposure to AuNPs, but mortality was observed in the group exposed to 1600 mu g.L-1 of iAu. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
keywords
SIZE-DEPENDENT TOXICITY; DNA-DAMAGE; COMET ASSAY; FPG PROTEIN; BIOCHEMICAL RESPONSES; SILVER NANOPARTICLES; OXIDATIVE DAMAGE; IN-VITRO; GENOTOXICITY; REPAIR
subject category
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
authors
Barreto, A; Dias, A; Duarte, B; Pinto, E; Almeida, A; Trindade, T; Soares, AMVM; Hylland, K; Loureiro, S; Oliveira, M
Groups
acknowledgements
This research was supported through the COMPETE -Operational Competitiveness Program and national funds through FCT -Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project NANOAu -Effects of Gold Nanoparticles to Aquatic Organisms (FCT PTDC/MAR-EST/3399/2012) (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-029435), through FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC) and the cofounding by FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020 to CESAM (UID/AMB/50017). A. Barreto has a doctoral fellowship from FCT (SFRH/BD/97624/2013); M. Oliveira has financial support of the program Investigator FCT, co-funded by the Human Potential Operational Programme and European Social Fund (IF/00335(2015)).