Determining the effects of different levels of polystyrene nanoplastics on the expression of immune-related- genes in Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Most of the plastic materials used for food packaging are non-biodegradable, resulting in more environmental pollution. Hence, this study was designed and conducted to measure the effect of toxicity of the PSNPs while transferring from the diet to the body of the fish (food concentrations = 0, 0.1, 10, and 100 mg/kg) on juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in a 28-day chronic treatment and the control group (food concentration= 0mg/kg) after the 7-day adaptation period, in three repetitions (15 juvenile trout were included in each repetition per concentration). In addition, changes in two genetic biomarkers of the immune system and stress in the expression profile of the liver and spleen tissues indicated that following the increase in the concentration of PSNPs, the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and expression level of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) in both liver and spleen tissues significantly increased with the increase of mRNA transcription (P<0.05). Based on the obtained results, the release of NPsPS was confirmed for health and safety at the cellular-molecular level in the aquatic sample under study, and it is likely that if this nanomaterial is released in the aquatic environment, it will induce adverse environmental effects.