Effects of Workers Exposure to Nanoparticles Studied by NMR Metabolomics

Štěpán Horník,Lenka Michálková,Daniela Pelclová,Vladimír Ždímal,Jan Sýkora,Štěpánka Vlčková,Štěpánka Dvořáčková

doi:10.3390/app11146601

Abstract

In this study, the effects of occupational exposure to nanoparticles (NPs) were studied by NMR metabolomics. Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) and blood plasma samples were obtained from a research nanoparticles-processing unit at a national research university. The samples were taken from three groups of subjects: samples from workers exposed to nanoparticles collected before and after shift, and from controls not exposed to NPs. Altogether, 60 1H NMR spectra of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) samples and 60 1H NMR spectra of blood plasma samples were analysed, 20 in each group. The metabolites identified together with binning data were subjected to multivariate statistical analysis, which provided clear discrimination of the groups studied. Statistically significant metabolites responsible for group separation served as a foundation for analysis of impaired metabolic pathways. It was found that the acute effect of NPs exposure is mainly reflected in the pathways related to the production of antioxidants and other protective species, while the chronic effect is manifested mainly in the alteration of glutamine and glutamate metabolism, and the purine metabolism pathway.

Highlights

Nanoscience and nanotechnology have been developing rapidly in recent years, especially in new materials for electronics and optoelectronics fields, for energy technology, and in technology fields related to medical products, for diagnostics and drugs delivery systems
The samples were taken from three groups of subjects: (i) samples from workers exposed to nanoparticles (NPs) collected before shift and (ii) after shift, and (iii) a control group of subjects not exposed to NPs
The exhaled breath condensate (EBC) and blood plasma samples of a cohort of 20 workers exposed to NPs during their occupation were analysed by 1 H NMR spectroscopy and processed by statistical analysis

Summary

Introduction

Nanoscience and nanotechnology have been developing rapidly in recent years, especially in new materials for electronics and optoelectronics fields, for energy technology, and in technology fields related to medical products, for diagnostics and drugs delivery systems. The increased use of nanoparticles has raised concerns in many areas including the environment, human public health, consumer safety, and occupational safety and health [1,2]. Numerous toxicity studies have assessed the hazard of NPs exposure [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14]. Several health issues were associated with NPs including allergy, injury of epithelial tissue, inflammation, and oxidative stress response [1,2,3,6,10,11,15,16].

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