Effects of acute and chronic exposure and elimination of nanoplastics and F-53B on inflammatory response and lipid metabolism in GIFT tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Abstract

Micro-/nano-plastics (M/NPs) and perfluoroalkyl ether sulfonate (Cl-PFAES, F-53B) accumulated in the aquatic environment are easy to be ingested by fish, which may cause toxicity and obstacle the growth, deteriorating to aquaculture development and food safety. In this study, the economic fish GIFT tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) was acutely (5 days) and chronically (21 days) exposed with 5-days elimination to polystyrene nanoplastics (PSNPs, 1 and 10 μg/L) single or combined with F-53B (200 ng/L) to examine impacts on oxidative stress, inflammatory response, lipid biochemical parameters, fatty acids, genes related to lipid metabolism, and intestinal microorganism. Results showed that the acute and chronic exposure to PSNPs and F-53B caused the oxidative stress and inflammatory responses of liver and intestine. Furthermore, the hepatic lipid metabolism was disordered, reflecting by the changes of lipid biochemical parameters, fatty acids profiles and the expression of genes related to lipid metabolism. The structure of intestinal microorganism was affected by the chronic exposure of PSNPs or combination of F-53B. After elimination, there were a partial of indicators recovery to the level of the control. The results highlighted the acute and chronic exposure to PSNPs and F-53B induced adverse effects on tilapia and can't recovery completely within a short period of time. This study helped to reveal the real ecological risks of NPs and F-53B on economic fish species, and appealed for attention to the ecological risk evaluation of persistent organic pollutants on economic fish species during the aquaculture period.