Objective: To evaluate the sub-acute oral effect of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles on the oxidation/antioxidation biomarkers and inflammatory cytokines in blood, liver, intestine, and colon in rats.
Methods: Twenty four 4-week-old clean-grade Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomly devided into 4 groups by body weight (n=6, control, low, middle, and high), in which the rats were orally exposed to TiO2 nanoparticles at doses of 0, 2, 10 and 50 mg/kg body weight/day for 28 consecutive days separately. Food intake, body weight and abnormal behaviors during the experiment were recorded. The rats were euthanized on the 29th day. The blood was collected via abdominal aortic method and centrifuged to collect the serum. Tissues from liver, intestine and colon were collected and homogenated. Then enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and microwell plate methods were used to detect oxidation/antioxidation biomarkers including superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), total mercapto (T-SH), glutathione disulfide (GSSG), malomdialdehvde (MDA) and inflammatory cytokines including interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in the serum, liver, intestine and colon in the rats.
Results: Compared with the control group, no significant differences in body weight, food intake and organ coefficients were observed in all the three groups after TiO2 gavage. No significant changes in GSH, GSH-Px, T-SH, and IL-6 were observed. Compared with the control group, significant increase of SOD activity in serum in high dose group, signi-ficant increase of GSSG concentration in intestine in middle and high dose group and significant increase of MDA concentration in liver in low and high dose group were observed. Compared with the control group, a significant increase of TNF-α in liver in middle and high dose group was observed.
Conclusion: TiO2 nanoparticle can increase antioxidant enzymes activities in blood, increase oxidative biomarkers in liver and intestine, increase inflammatory cytokines in liver in rats after a 28-day sub-acute orally administration. Among blood, liver, intestine, and colon, liver is most sensitive to the toxicity induced by TiO2 nanoparticles, followed by intestine, blood, and colon in sequence.
目的: 评估纳米二氧化钛(titanium dioxide, TiO2)亚急性经口暴露对大鼠肝、小肠、大肠及血液等组织、脏器氧化/抗氧化生物标志和炎性因子的影响。
方法: 将24只4周龄清洁级Sprague Dawley(SD)雄性大鼠按体质量随机分为对照、低剂量、中剂量和高剂量4组，每组6只，以纳米TiO2每日灌胃，染毒剂量分别为0、2、10和50 mg/kg体质量，持续28 d。记录大鼠进食量、体质量和异常表现等一般情况，末次染毒后禁食12 h，取大鼠腹主动脉血，离心收集血清，取肝、小肠、大肠组织制备匀浆。采用酶联免疫吸附试验(enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, ELISA)及微板比色法测定氧化/抗氧化生物标志：总超氧化物歧化酶(superoxide dismutase, SOD)、还原型谷胱甘肽(glutathione, GSH)、谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶(glutathione peroxidase, GSH-Px)、总巯基(total mercapto, T-SH)、氧化型谷胱甘肽(glutathione disulfide, GSSG)和丙二醛(malomdialdehvde, MDA)；测定炎性因子：白细胞介素-6(interleukin 6, IL-6)和肿瘤坏死因子-α(tumor necrosis factor alpha, TNF-α)。
结果: 与对照组相比，各组大鼠体质量、进食量、脏器系数均未见明显差异，血清、肝、小肠、大肠中GSH、GSH-Px、T-SH和IL-6无显著改变。与各自对照组相比，高剂量组大鼠血清中SOD活性显著上升，中、高剂量组小肠中GSSG浓度显著升高，低、高剂量组肝MDA浓度显著升高，中剂量组和高剂量组肝TNF-α浓度显著升高。
结论: 纳米TiO2亚急性经口暴露可造成大鼠血液组织抗氧化酶活性增加，肝和小肠氧化产物增加，肝脏炎性因子水平增高，肝对纳米TiO2经口暴露毒性最为敏感，随后依次为小肠和血液组织，大肠最不敏感。
Keywords: Antioxidants; Nanoparticles; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Titanium dioxide.