Canli_2023_Environ.Toxicol.Pharmacol__104077

In this study, responses of various biomarkers in the digestive gland and foot muscle of freshwater mussels (Unio tigridis) were investigated following exposure to Al(2)O(3), CuO and TiO(2) nanoparticles (NPs) for 14 days at different concentrations (0, 1, 3 and 9mg NP/L). Mussels were fed on unicellular algae (Chlorella vulgaris) cultured in the laboratory. NP exposures caused significant increases (p<0.05) in the levels of total glutathione (GSH), reduced-glutathione (rGSH), oxidized-glutathione (GSSG) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in the digestive gland. Oppositely, there were significant (p<0.05) decreases in acetylcholinesterase activity in the foot muscles. Total energy reserves of the digestive gland and foot muscle significantly (p<0.05) decreased, but only at the highest NP exposures. Nevertheless, NP exposures did not alter (p>0.05) the algae filtering capacity of mussels. This study demonstrated that the biomarkers belonging to different metabolic systems responded to NP exposures, suggesting their usage in the monitoring studies for freshwater systems.