Abstract
Microplastics (MPs) are common environmental contaminants that present a growing health concern due to their increasing presence in aquatic and human systems. However, the mechanisms behind MP effects on organisms are unclear. In this study, zebrafish (Danio rerio) were used as an in vivo model to investigate the potential risks and molecular mechanisms of the toxic effects of polyethylene MPs (45–53 μm). In the zebrafish intestine, 6, 5, and 186 genes showed differential expression after MP treatment for 1, 5, and 10 days, respectively. In the gills, 318, 92, and 484 genes showed differential expression after MP treatment for 1, 5, and 10 days, respectively. In both the intestine and the gills, Gene Ontology (GO) annotation showed that the main enriched terms were biological regulation, cellular process, metabolic process, cellular anatomical entity, and binding. KEGG enrichment analysis on DEGs revealed that the dominant pathways were carbohydrate metabolism and lipid metabolism, which were strongly influenced by MPs in the intestine. The dominant pathways in the gills were immune and lipid metabolism. The respiratory rate of gills, the activity of SOD and GSH in the intestine significantly increased after exposure to MPs compared with the control (p < 0.05), while the activity of SOD did not change in the gills. GSH activity was only significantly increased after MP exposure for 5 days. Also, the MDA content was not changed in the intestine but was significantly decreased in the gills after MP exposure. The activity of AChE significantly decreased only after MPs exposure for 5 days. Overall, these results indicated that MPs pollution significantly induced oxidative stress and neurotoxicity, increased respiratory rate, disturbed energy metabolism and stimulated immune function in fish, displaying an environmental risk of MPs to aquatic ecosystems.
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All data were included in this manuscript and supplementary materials. The sequencing data were deposited in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) with the BioProject number of PRJNA662254 and PRJNA670521.
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This work was supported by Special Project of Agricultural Ecological Environment Protection of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (No. 2110402).
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YHX and ZXS designed the experiments. LSF, ZYX, and FYZ collected samples and analyzed the data. XLW and TJ drafted the manuscript and all other authors revised it.
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Xue, YH., Feng, LS., Xu, ZY. et al. The time-dependent variations of zebrafish intestine and gill after polyethylene microplastics exposure. Ecotoxicology 30, 1997–2010 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-021-02469-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-021-02469-4