Nickel nanoparticles induces cytotoxicity, cell morphology and oxidative stress in bluegill sunfish (BF-2) cells

The rationale of the current study was to assess the suitability of BF-2 cell line as a model to assess nanotoxicity in the caudal fin cells of bluegill sunfish in vitro. The current study investigates the potential toxicity, morphological changes and oxidative stress of nickel nanoparticles (Ni NPs) in bluegill sunfish cells (BF-2) using mitochondrial, neutral red uptake and lactate dehydrogenase assays. Results indicated a concentration dependent cytotoxic effect after 24 h in mitochondrial, lysosomal and lactate dehydrogenase activities. BF-2 cells morphology was altered when exposed to 30 mu g ml(-1) concentrations of Ni NPs for 24 h. Dose dependent increase of oxidative stress was evidenced in BF-2 cells when exposed to Ni NPs, showed significant escalation in peroxidation of lipids (LPO), protein carbonyl (PC), glutathione sulfo-transferase (GST) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) as compared to their experimental controls. However, the catalase (CAT) and total glutathione content (TGSH) was found to decrease dose dependently in BF-2 cells exposed to Ni NPs. The current study demonstrated that BF-2 cells may serve as a sensitive indicator for aquatic contaminant evaluations in toxicological research.