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The effect of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on neuroinflammation response in rat brain

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Abstract

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) are widely used for their whiteness and opacity in several applications such as food colorants, drug additives, biomedical ceramic, and implanted biomaterials. Research on the neurobiological response to orally administered TiO2 NPs is still limited. In our study, we investigate the effects of anatase TiO2 NPs on the brain of Wistar rats after oral intake. After daily intragastric administration of anatase TiO2 NPs (5–10 nm) at 0, 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg body weight (BW) for 60 days, the coefficient of the brain, acethylcholinesterase (AChE) activities, the level of interleukin 6 (IL-6), and the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were assessed to quantify the brain damage. The results showed that high-dose anatase TiO2 NPs could induce a downregulated level of AChE activities and showed an increase in plasmatic IL-6 level as compared to the control group accompanied by a dose-dependent decrease inter-doses, associated to an increase in the cerebral IL-6 level as a response to a local inflammation in brain. Furthermore, we observed elevated levels of immunoreactivity to GFAP in rat cerebral cortex. We concluded that oral intake of anatase TiO2 NPs can induce neuroinflammation and could be neurotoxic and hazardous to health.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by funds allocated to the Research Unit of Histology and Genetic UR12ES10 by the “Ministère Tunisien de l’Enseingement Supérieur et de la Recherché Scientifique”. The authors thank Pr Fadwa Neffati from the Laboratory of Biochemistry of the University Hospital “Fattouma Bourguiba” of Monastir, for her help in the determination of protein total.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Histology and Cytogenetics (UR12ES10), Faculty of Medicine, 5019, Monastir, Tunisia

    Intissar Grissa, Sabrine Guezguez, Lobna Ezzi, Sana Chakroun, Amira Sallem, Emna Kerkeni, Meriem Mehdi, Hassen ben Cheikh & Zohra Haouas

  2. Laboratory of Physics of Materials and Nanomaterials Applied at Environment (LaPhyMNE), Faculty of Sciences in Gabes, Gabes University, 6072, Gabes, Tunisia

    Amira Sallem & Meriem Mehdi

  3. Department of Physics, College of Sciences, Al Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMISU), Riyadh, 11623, Saudi Arabia

    Jaber Elghoul & Lassaad El Mir

  4. Cytogenetic and Reproductive Biology Department, Fattouma Bourguiba Teaching Hospital, Monastir, Tunisia

    Jaber Elghoul & Lassaad El Mir

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  1. Intissar Grissa
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  2. Sabrine Guezguez
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  3. Lobna Ezzi
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  8. Lassaad El Mir
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  9. Meriem Mehdi
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  10. Hassen ben Cheikh
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  11. Zohra Haouas
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Correspondence to Intissar Grissa.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

“All procedures performed in studies involving animals were in accordance with the guidelines for animals care of the “Faculty of Medicine of Monastir”, Tunisia at which the studies were conducted.”

The manuscript does not contain clinical studies or patient data.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

Highlights

• TiO2 NPs could induce a downregulated level of AChE activities.

• TiO2 NPs provoke an increase in plasmatic IL-6 level as compared to the control group accompanied by a dose-dependent decrease inter-doses, associated to an increase in the cerebral IL-6 level as a response to a local inflammation in the brain.

• TiO2 NPs increase GFAP expression and reflect astrocytic stimulation as an inflammatory response.

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Grissa, I., Guezguez, S., Ezzi, L. et al. The effect of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on neuroinflammation response in rat brain. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 20205–20213 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7234-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7234-8

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