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Published on: September 19, 2019
Effects of copper oxide nanoparticles on reproductive system of zebrafish
Guizhu Wu1, Lu Gao2, Shaoming Zhang3
1Institute of Environment and Ecology, School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China; Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Technology and Material of Water Treatment, Suzhou 215009, China; Jiangsu Province Engineering Research Center of Green Technology and Contigency Management for Emerging Pollutants, Zhenjiang 212013, China.
Abstract:
Copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) were regarded as the versatile materials in daily life and the in-depth evaluation of their biological effects is of great concern. Herein the female and male zebrafishes were chosen as the model animals to analyze the reproductive toxicity caused by CuO NPs at low concentration (10, 50 and 100 μg/L) After 20-days exposure, the structure of zebrafish ovary and testis were impaired. Moreover, the contents of 17β-estradiol (E2) in both females and males were increased, while the contents of testosterone (T) were decreased, indicating the imbalanced sex hormones caused by CuO NPs. The expression of genes along the hypothalamic pituitary-gonad (HPG) axis, were examined with quantitative real-time PCR to further evaluate the toxic mechanisms. Meanwhile, the levels of erα/er2β and cyp19a in female zebrafishes and erα/er2β, lhr, hmgra/hmgrb, 3βhsd and 17βhsd in male zebrafishes were obviously up-regulated. While, the level of αr was obviously down-regulated in female and male zebrafishes. Thus, the obtained data uncovered that long-term exposure of CuO NPs with low dose could trigger the endocrine disorder, resulting in the disturbance of E2 and T level, inhibition of gonad development, and alteration of HPG axis genes. In brief, this study enriched the toxicological data of NPs on aquatic vertebrates and provided the theoretical support for assessing the environmental safety of NPs.
