title: A comparative toxicity study between small and large size zinc oxide nanoparticles in tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus): Organ pathologies, osmoregulatory responses and immunological parameters.
abstract: Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) was exposed to different sizes of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) to evaluate their organ pathologies (kidney, liver, gill, and intestine), osmoregulatory responses and immunological parameters. Sub-chronic exposure was conducted in fresh water with 1 and 10 mg/L concentrations of the small (10-30 nm) and large-size ZnO (100 nm) particles for 7 and 14 days. In this study, it is found that small and large forms of ZnO-NPs cause various pathologic findings in the target organs at all concentrations. These findings are increased of melanomacrophage aggregates, tubular deformations, necrosis and cytoplasmic vacuolations in the kidney, oedema, mononuclear cell infiltrations, fatty changes, pyknotic nuclei and hepatocellular vacuolations in the liver, hyperplasia, aneurysms, and epithelial liftings in the gills, and hyperplasia, swelled of goblet cells, villus deformations in the intestine. Results showed that respiratory burst and potential killing activity at the small-size ZnO concentration significantly increased compared to the control group (p < 0.05) but significant reductions of these parameters at the large-size ZnO concentrations compared to control (p < 0.05) were measured. These findings demonstrate the potential of each particle size to cause significant damage to the immune system. Moreover, because ZnO NPs inhibit the Na(+), K(+)-ATPase activity at all concentrations and increase serum Ca(2+) and Cl(-) levels especially in gill, these particles are osmoregulatory and toxicant for tilapia fish. As a summary, both sizes of the particles have led to organ damage, osmoregulatory changes and immune disorder in tilapia fish.
authors.affiliation: Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Marine Sciences and Technology, 17100 Çanakkale, Turkey. Electronic address: hasankaya@comu.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kaya
authors.affiliation: Istanbul University, Fisheries Faculty, 34470 Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Fatih
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aydın
authors.affiliation: Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Biology, 17100 Çanakkale, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mert
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gürkan
authors.affiliation: Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Marine Sciences and Technology, 17100 Çanakkale, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sevdan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yılmaz
authors.affiliation: Tunceli University, Engineering Faculty, Department of Bioengineering, 62000 Tunceli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ates
authors.affiliation: Tunceli University, Engineering Faculty, Department of Environmental Engineering, 62000 Tunceli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Veysel
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Demir
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Jackson State University, 39217, USA.
authors.forename: Zikri
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Arslan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D023681:Cichlids / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D005880:Gills / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D007107:Immune System / Q000187:drug effects*; D007422:Intestines / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D007668:Kidney / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D009928:Organ Specificity / Q000187:drug effects; D064587:Osmoregulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D010316:Particle Size; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D015034:Zinc Oxide
keywords: Immunological parameters; Oreochromis niloticus; Organ pathologies; Osmoregulatory responses; ZnO nanoparticles