title: Citrate gold nanoparticle exposure in the marine bivalve Ruditapes philippinarum: uptake, elimination and oxidative stress response.
abstract: Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are considered an important nano-sized component of the twenty-first century. Due to their unique physical and chemical properties, they are being used and developed for a wide range of promising applications in medicine, biology and chemistry. Notwithstanding their useful aspects, in recent years concern has been raised over their ability to enter cells, organelles and nuclei and provoke oxidative stress. In a laboratory-based experiment, the non-target marine bivalve Ruditapes philippinarum was used as a model organism. Uptake, elimination and molecular effects under short-term and sub-chronic exposure conditions to an environmental relevant concentration (0.75 μg L(-1)) of weakly agglomerating citrate AuNPs (∼20 nm) were studied. Our results demonstrate that at the tested concentration, the particles are readily taken up into the digestive gland > gills and can produce significant changes (p < 0.05) in oxidative stress and inflammatory response markers, as measured by phase II antioxidant enzymes and q-PCR gene expression analysis. However, the overall magnitude of responses was low, and oxidative damage was not provoked. Further, a significant elimination of Au from the digestive tract within a 7-day purification period was observed, with excretion being an important pathway. In conclusion, short-term and sub-chronic exposure to an environmental relevant concentration of citrate-stabilized AuNPs cannot be considered toxic to our model organism, while some further consideration should be given to chronic exposure effects.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucia (CSIC), Campus Universitario Río San Pedro s/n, 11510, Puerto Real, Cadiz, Spain. moritz.volland@icman.csic.es.
authors.forename: Moritz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Volland
authors.affiliation: Department for Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of Cadiz, Campus Universitario Río San Pedro s/n, 11510, Puerto Real, Cadiz, Spain.|Andalusian Center of Marine Science and Technology (CACYTMAR), Campus Universitario Río San Pedro s/n, 11510, Puerto Real, Cadiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hampel
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucia (CSIC), Campus Universitario Río San Pedro s/n, 11510, Puerto Real, Cadiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Martos-Sitcha
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucia (CSIC), Campus Universitario Río San Pedro s/n, 11510, Puerto Real, Cadiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Trombini
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucia (CSIC), Campus Universitario Río San Pedro s/n, 11510, Puerto Real, Cadiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Martínez-Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucia (CSIC), Campus Universitario Río San Pedro s/n, 11510, Puerto Real, Cadiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Julián
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blasco
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049872:Bivalvia / Q000187:drug effects*; D019343:Citric Acid / Q000633:toxicity*; D006046:Gold / Q000633:toxicity*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000633:toxicity*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D019343:Citric Acid; D006046:Gold
keywords: Accumulation; Au-nanoparticles; Elimination; Nanotoxicity; Redox homeostasis; q-PCR