Waterborne exposure of adult zebrafish to silver nanoparticles and to ionic silver results in differential silver accumulation and effects at cellular and molecular levels

Highlights: • Adult zebrafish were exposed for 21 days to 10 μg Ag/L of Ag NPs or ionic silver. • Silver was detected in gills, liver and intestine. • Histopathological alterations were recorded in gills. • Exposure to Ag NPs and ionic silver regulated the hepatic transcriptome differentially. • Damage on gills and effects on liver lysosomes were recorded at 6 months post-exposure. Effects of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) on freshwater species have been reported in several studies, but there is not information on the potential long-term consequences of a previous exposure. In this work, we investigated the long-term effects of maltose-coated Ag NPs (20 nm) and of ionic silver (10 μg/L) after 21 days of exposure and at 6 months post-exposure (mpe) in adult zebrafish. Exposure resulted in significant silver accumulation in the whole body of fish exposed to ionic silver, but not in those exposed to Ag NPs. However, autometallography revealed metal accumulation in the liver and intestine of fish treated with the two silver forms and especially in the intestine of fish exposed to Ag NPs. X-ray microanalysis showed the presence of silver in gills, liver and intestine and of Ag NPs in gill and liver cells. Inflammation and hyperplasia were evident in the gills after both treatments and these histopathological conditions remained at 6 mpe. According to the hepatic transcriptome analysis, at 3 days ionic silver regulated a larger number of transcripts (410) than Ag NPs (129), while at 21 days Ag NPs provoked a stronger effect (799 vs 165 regulated sequences). Gene ontology terms such as "metabolic processes" and "response to stimulus" appeared enriched after all treatments, while "immune system" or "reproductive processes" were specifically enriched after the exposure to Ag NPs. This suggests that the toxicity of Ag NPs may not be solely related to the release of Ag ions, but also to the NP form. No evident effects were found on protein oxidation or on hepatocyte lysosomal membrane stability during exposure, but effects recorded on liver lysosomes and persistent damage on gill tissue at 6 mpe could indicate potential for long-term effects in exposed fish.