Alleviating Effect of a Magnetite (Fe₃O₄) Nanogel against Waterborne-Lead-Induced Physiological Disturbances, Histopathological Changes, and Lead Bioaccumulation in African Catfish

Afaf N Abdel Rahman¹, Basma Ahmed Elkhadrawy², Abdallah Tageldein Mansour^{3

4}, Heba M Abdel-Ghany⁵, Engy Mohamed Mohamed Yassin⁶, Asmaa Elsayyad⁷, Khairiah Mubarak Alwutayd⁸, Sameh H Ismail⁹, Heba H Mahboub¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Aquatic Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt.
² Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sadat City, Sadat City 32897, Egypt.
³ Animal and Fish Production Department, College of Agricultural and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, P.O. Box 420, Hofuf 31982, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Fish and Animal Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture (Saba Basha), Alexandria University, Alexandria 21531, Egypt.
⁵ Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt.
⁶ Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt.
⁷ Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt.
⁸ Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ Faculty of Nanotechnology for Postgraduate Studies, Cairo University, Sheikh Zayed Branch Campus, Giza 12588, Egypt.

PMID: 37623096
PMCID: PMC10453935
DOI: 10.3390/gels9080641

Alleviating Effect of a Magnetite (Fe₃O₄) Nanogel against Waterborne-Lead-Induced Physiological Disturbances, Histopathological Changes, and Lead Bioaccumulation in African Catfish

Afaf N Abdel Rahman et al. Gels. 2023.

. 2023 Aug 8;9(8):641.

doi: 10.3390/gels9080641.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Aquatic Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt.
² Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sadat City, Sadat City 32897, Egypt.
³ Animal and Fish Production Department, College of Agricultural and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, P.O. Box 420, Hofuf 31982, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Fish and Animal Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture (Saba Basha), Alexandria University, Alexandria 21531, Egypt.
⁵ Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt.
⁶ Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt.
⁷ Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt.
⁸ Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ Faculty of Nanotechnology for Postgraduate Studies, Cairo University, Sheikh Zayed Branch Campus, Giza 12588, Egypt.

PMID: 37623096
PMCID: PMC10453935
DOI: 10.3390/gels9080641

Abstract

Heavy metal toxicity is an important issue owing to its harmful influence on fish. Hence, this study is a pioneer attempt to verify the in vitro and in vivo efficacy of a magnetite (Fe₃O₄) nanogel (MNG) in mitigating waterborne lead (Pb) toxicity in African catfish. Fish (n = 160) were assigned into four groups for 45 days. The first (control) and second (MNG) groups were exposed to 0 and 1.2 mg L^-1 of MNG in water. The third (Pb) and fourth (MNG + Pb) groups were exposed to 0 and 1.2 mg L^-1 of MNG in water and 69.30 mg L^-1 of Pb. In vitro, the MNG caused a dramatic drop in the Pb level within 120 h. The Pb-exposed group showed the lowest survival (57.5%) among the groups, with substantial elevations in hepato-renal function and lipid peroxide (MDA). Moreover, Pb exposure caused a remarkable decline in the protein-immune parameters and hepatic antioxidants, along with higher Pb residual deposition in muscles and obvious histopathological changes in the liver and kidney. Interestingly, adding aqueous MNG to Pb-exposed fish relieved these alterations and increased survivability. Thus, MNG is a novel antitoxic agent against Pb toxicity to maintain the health of C. gariepinus.

Keywords: Clarias gariepinus; health status; lead toxicity; magnetite nanogel; nanotechnology; tissue architecture.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Figure 1**
Characterization patterns of magnetite nanogel: (A) XRD, (B) DLS, (C) Zeta potential, and (D) AFM.

**Figure 2**
SEM image (1 µm) of magnetite nanogel.

**Figure 3**
TEM image (100 nm) of magnetite nanogel.

**Figure 4**
(A) Absorption of lead (Pb) by magnetite nanogel (MNG) across 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 h. (B) Impact of MNG level on the concentration of Pb ions across 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 h. Values that did not have the same superscripts differ significantly (one-way ANOVA; p < 0.05).

**Figure 5**
Cumulative survival (n = 40/group) and protein profile parameters (n = 12/group) of *C. gariepinus* exposed to magnetite nanogel (MNG) and/or lead (Pb) as a water exposure for 45 days. (A) Survival curves (Kaplan–Meier). (B) Total proteins (TP). (C) Albumin (ALB). (D) Globulins (GLO). Bars (means ± SE) that did not have the same superscripts differ significantly (one-way ANOVA; p < 0.05).

**Figure 6**
Immune parameters of *C. gariepinus* exposed to magnetite nanogel (MNG) and/or lead (Pb) as a water exposure for 45 days (n = 12/group). (A) Lysozyme activity (LYZ). (B) Complement 3 (C3). (C) Nitric oxide (NO). (D) Immunoglobulin M (IgM). Bars (means ± SE) that did not have the same superscripts differ significantly (one-way ANOVA; p < 0.05).

**Figure 7**
Photomicrograph of H&E-stained liver sections of *C. gariepinus* exposed to magnetite nanogel (MNG) and/or lead (Pb) as a water exposure for 45 days. (A,B) Liver of the control and MNG groups, respectively, showing normal histological structures of hepatic acini (arrow) and vasculatures (arrowheads). (C) Liver of the Pb group showing a focal area of fatty change (arrow), congested hepatic blood vessel (star), and perivascular inflammatory cell infiltrates (arrowhead). (D) Liver of the MNG +Pb group showing microvacuoles within a few numbers of hepatocytes (arrow), congested hepatic blood vessels (star), inflammatory cell aggregate within the portal area (arrowhead), and perivascular aggregation of melanomacrophage (red arrow). Scale Bar: 20 μm.

**Figure 8**
Photomicrograph of H&E-stained kidney sections of *C. gariepinus* exposed to magnetite nanogel (MNG) and/or lead (Pb) as a water exposure for 45 days. (A,B) Kidney of the control and MNG groups, respectively, showing normal renal structures with preserved glomerular capillary tufts (arrowheads), renal tubular epithelium (arrows), and the presence of hemopoietic cells (red arrows). (C) Kidney of the Pb group showing marked necrotic changes in the tubular epithelium (arrow), maintained glomerular architectures (arrowhead), and depletion of hemopoietic center replaced by pale eosinophilic substance (star). (D) Kidney of the MNG + Pb group showing normal histomorphological structures of the renal tubule (arrow) and glomerular corpuscle (arrowhead). Scale Bar: 20 μm.

**Figure 9**
Residues of lead (Pb) in muscles of *C. gariepinus* exposed to magnetite nanogel (MNG) and/or Pb as a water exposure for 45 days (n = 12/group). Bars (means ± SE) that did not have the same superscripts differ significantly (one-way ANOVA; p < 0.05).

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Alleviating Effect of a Magnetite (Fe₃O₄) Nanogel against Waterborne-Lead-Induced Physiological Disturbances, Histopathological Changes, and Lead Bioaccumulation in African Catfish

Affiliations

Alleviating Effect of a Magnetite (Fe₃O₄) Nanogel against Waterborne-Lead-Induced Physiological Disturbances, Histopathological Changes, and Lead Bioaccumulation in African Catfish

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources