Luminescence Tracking and In Vivo Toxicity Evaluation of TiO<sub>2</sub> and Europium Doped TiO<sub>2</sub> Nanocrystals during Drosophila Development

oleh: Jerusa Maria de Oliveira, Kellen Talita Romão da Silva, Francisco Rubens Alves dos Santos, Felipe Berti Valer, Ricardo Kenji Ohno Takaki, João Paulo Santos de Carvalho, Olagide Wagner de Castro, Thiago Lopes Rocha, Noelio Oliveira Dantas, Anielle Christine Almeida Silva, Lucas Anhezini

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2023-01-01

Deskripsi

Titanium dioxide (TiO<sub>2</sub>) nanoparticles (NPs) are widely used in industry and commercial products. Thus, their potential risks to the environment and human health must be evaluated. Doping NPs with certain ions makes it possible to mix properties or generate new ones. Thus, in order to track TiO<sub>2</sub> NPs in biological assays, doping with europium (Eu<sup>3+</sup>) ions was performed, which luminesce in red. Here, we synthesized TiO<sub>2</sub> and Eu<sup>3+</sup>-doped TiO<sub>2</sub> nanocrystals (NCs) in anatase phase to verify the toxicity at different concentrations in <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> and track the distribution of these NCs in vivo. We verified that the incorporation of europium improved the biocompatibility in relation to the pure samples. The presence of Eu<sup>3+</sup>-doped TiO<sub>2</sub> NCs in the gut, brain, and fat body of larvae and intestinal cells of adult animals was detected. Eu<sup>3+</sup>-doped TiO<sub>2</sub> NCs caused significant larval and pupal mortality rates, in addition to leading to the formation of reactive species, especially at high concentrations. Therefore, our data demonstrated it was possible to trace the Eu<sup>3+</sup>-doped TiO<sub>2</sub> NCs, but TiO<sub>2</sub> and Eu<sup>3+</sup>-doped TiO<sub>2</sub> NCs in anatase phase were toxic to fruit flies at the tested concentrations, and should be used with caution to minimize health risks.