Metabonomics Study on the Effect of Nano-TiO2 on the Plasma Metabolism Spectrum of Young Mice.

Changes in the plasma metabolism of young ICR mice after exposure to nano-TiO₂ at different doses were measured to investigate the mechanism of its toxic side-effects and to identify its toxicity-related biological targets. Mice were assigned randomly to control group and nano-TiO₂ (10, 30, 100, or 300 mg⋅kg^-1 ) exposure groups. Plasma data were analyzed using metabonomics technology to identify potential biomarkers. Topology of biomarkers was determined using the KEGG database. Contents of cholic acid, deoxycholic acid, ursodeoxycholic acid and taurocholic acid in plasma were measured by targeted quantitative methods to find the biomarkers corresponding to the toxic effects of TiO₂. Forty-nine metabolites were screened from plasma. The toxicity of nano-TiO₂ resulted mainly from an abnormality of phospholipids and bile-acid compounds. The toxicity of nano-TiO₂ in mice after 28 d exposure may be related to the abnormal metabolism of phospholipids and bile-acid compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]