Metabolic profiling of nanosilver toxicity in the gills of common carp

• Published in: Ecotoxicology and environmental safety 2021-10, Vol.222, p.112548-112548, Article 112548
• Main Authors: Li, Qin-Qin, Xiang, Qian-Qian, Lian, Li-Hong, Chen, Zhi-Ying, Luo, Xia, Ding, Cheng-Zhi, Chen, Li-Qiang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Fish gills; Histopathology; Metabolomics; Nanotoxicology; Silver nanoparticle
• ISSN: 0147-6513; 1090-2414
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.112548

Studies have shown silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) exposure can result in a series of toxic effects in fish gills. However, it is still unclear how AgNPs affect metabolite expression and their related molecular metabolic pathways in fish gills. In this study, we employed untargeted metabolomics to study the effects of AgNPs and silver supernatant ions on fish gill metabolites. The results showed that AgNPs can induce significant changes in 96 differentially expressed metabolites, which mainly affect amino acid metabolism and energy metabolism in fish gills. Among these metabolites, AgNPs specifically induce significant changes in 72 differentially expressed metabolites, including L-histidine, L-isoleucine, L-phenylalanine, and citric acid. These metabolites were significantly enriched in the pathways of aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, ABC transporters, and the citrate cycle. In contrast, Ag+ supernatant exposure can specifically induce significant changes in 14 differentially expressed metabolites that mainly interfere with sphingolipid metabolism in fish gills. These specifically regulated fish gill metabolites include sphinganine, sphingosine, and phytosphingosine, which were significantly enriched in the sphingolipid metabolism pathway. Our results clearly reveal the effects and potential toxicity mechanisms of AgNPs on fish gill metabolites. Furthermore, our study further determined the unique functions of released silver ions in AgNPs toxicity in fish gills. [Display omitted] •The AgNPs mainly interfere with amino acid metabolism and energy metabolism in fish gills.•The AgNPs caused gill lamellae capillary dilation may be mediated by the metabolite inosine.•The effects of particulate silver dominated the impact of AgNPs on fish gill metabolism.