Abstract
We compared the changes of selected immune parameters of Porcellio scaber to different stressors. The animals were either fed for two weeks with Au nanoparticles (NPs), CeO2 NPs, or Au ions or body-injected with Au NPs, CeO2 NPs, or lipopolysaccharide endotoxin. Contrary to expectations, the feeding experiment showed that both NPs caused a significant increase in the total haemocyte count (THC). In contrast, the ion-positive control resulted in a significantly decreased THC. Additionally, changes in phenoloxidase (PO)-like activity, haemocyte viability, and nitric oxide (NO) levels seemed to depend on the stressor. Injection experiments also showed stressor-dependant changes in measured parameters, such as CeO2 NPs and lipopolysaccharide endotoxin (LPS), caused more significant responses than Au NPs. These results show that feeding and injection of NPs caused an immune response and that the response differed significantly, depending on the exposure route. We did not expect the response to ingested NPs, due to the low exposure concentrations (100 μg/g dry weight food) and a firm gut epithelia, along with a lack of phagocytosis in the digestive system, which would theoretically prevent NPs from crossing the biological barrier. It remains a challenge for future research to reveal what the physiological and ecological significance is for the organism to sense and respond, via the immune system, to ingested foreign material.
Highlights
The role of the immune system is to distinguish between the self and non-self and to choose the most effective response to exogenous or endogenous threats, in order to maintain the integrity and homeostasis of the organism [1,2,3]
We provide a comparison of the responses of the innate immune system of terrestrial isopod P. scaber to different types of challenges to homeostasis (Au and Ce nanoparticles, salt, and lipopolysaccharide endotoxin (LPS))
We report a comparison of the responses of well-studied immune parameters (THC, haemocyte viability, PO-like enzyme activity, and nitric oxide (NO) concentration) of the terrestrial isopod P. scaber to different types of stressors (Au and CeO2 nanoparticles, salt, and LPS)
Summary
The role of the immune system is to distinguish between the self and non-self and to choose the most effective response to exogenous or endogenous threats, in order to maintain the integrity and homeostasis of the organism [1,2,3]. The immune recognition and response mechanisms of crustaceans depend entirely on the innate immune system. The most prominent and well-studied cellular effector reactions of the innate immune system are phagocytosis, nodulation, encapsulation, cell-mediated cytotoxicity, and clotting. Cellular responses act in conjunction with humoral factors [4]. In response to natural infections and challenges that mimic natural infections, such as lipopolysaccharide endotoxin (LPS), the response mechanisms and the recognition system that governs them are well -studied [5,6,7,8,9,10]. Much less is known about the immune effector reactions in response to other challenges, such as pollutants [11]. The research on adverse or beneficial interactions between engineered nanomaterials and model organisms has provided a new model system to study if and how organisms sense and respond to novel engineered material of sizes comparable to those of viruses or bacteria [3]
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