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Evaluation of a chronic exposure to nanoplastics in goldfish (Carassius auratus): Analytical validation of automated assays for the measurement of biochemical markers
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Researchers exposed goldfish to polystyrene nanoplastics for 30 days to study chronic effects on health biomarkers in gills, brain, and muscle. They found that nanoplastics primarily triggered immune and antioxidant stress responses in the gills — the fish's first point of contact — but caused no measurable effects in muscle, suggesting gills may be an early warning site for plastic particle toxicity in fish.
The bulk of plastic pollution is mainly composed of small fragments, micro- and nanoplastics (NPs). Although many studies are currently published on NPs, research on the effects of NPs in fish after a chronic exposure is still scarce. The present study aimed to validate a series of automated assays to be used in the monitoring of fish challenged with a chronic exposure to NPs, using Carassius auratus (goldfish) as model species. For this purpose, adult C. auratus were exposed to 100 µg/L polystyrene (PS)-NPs for a 30-day period. Total oxidative status (TOS), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), esterase activity (EA) and adenosine deaminase activity (ADA) were measured in the gills, brain and muscle of fish. In addition, acetylcholinesterase activity (AChE) and creatinine kinase (CK) were measured in the muscle. All biomarkers were successfully validated in goldfish tissues and consequently used to assess the effects of NPs following a chronic exposure. Results showed that EA and TAC significantly increased in gills, while EA decreased significantly in the brain, and no effects were observed in any of these parameters in muscle. These results indicate that both immune and antioxidant responses were triggered by NPs in gills, but not in the brain nor muscle. This suggests that gills may be a primary target for NPs, potentially leading to a cascading effect on gas exchange, or osmo- and ionic regulation that should be further investigated.
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Researchers assessed how polystyrene microplastics of two sizes affect gill and gut health in goldfish and their subsequent vulnerability to bacterial infection. They found that microplastic exposure caused tissue inflammation, increased immune gene expression, and thickened gill and intestinal structures. Notably, exposure to smaller 0.5-micrometer microplastics significantly reduced fish survival when challenged with a bacterial pathogen, indicating that microplastics can compromise immune defenses in fish.
Effects of Polystyrene Nanoplastics on Oxidative Stress, Blood Biochemistry, and Digestive Enzyme Activity in Goldfish (Carassius auratus)
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