The release of nanoparticles (NPs) into the ocean inevitably poses a threat to marine organisms. However, to date, the neurotoxic effects of NPs remains poorly understood in marine bivalve species. Therefore, in order to gain a better understanding of the physiological effects of NPs, the impact of acute (96 h) TiO₂ NP exposure on the in vivo concentrations of three major neurotransmitters, the activity of AChE, and the expression of neurotransmitter-related genes was investigated in the blood clam, Tegillarca granosa. The obtained results showed that the in vivo concentrations of the three tested neurotransmitters (DA, GABA, and ACh) were significantly increased when exposed to relatively high doses of TiO₂ NPs (1 mg/L for DA and 10 mg/L for ACh and GABA). Additionally, clams exposed to seawater contaminated with TiO₂ NP had significantly lower AChE activity. In addition, the expression of genes encoding modulatory enzymes (AChE, GABAT, and MAO) and receptors (mAChR3, GABAD, and DRD3) for the neurotransmitters tested were all significantly down-regulated after TiO₂ NP exposure. Therefore, this study has demonstrated the evident neurotoxic impact of TiO₂ NPs in T. granosa, which may have significant consequences for a number of the organism’s physiological processes.

纳米颗粒（NPs）向海洋的释放不可避免地对海洋生物构成威胁。然而，迄今为止，在海洋双壳类动物中对NP的神经毒性作用仍知之甚少。因此，为了更好地了解NP的生理效应，急性（96 h）TiO ₂ NP暴露对三种主要神经递质的体内浓度，AChE活性以及与神经递质相关的表达的影响在血蛤Tegillarca granosa中研究了这些基因。获得的结果表明，当暴露于较高剂量的TiO _2中时，三种测试的神经递质（DA，GABA和ACh）的体内浓度显着增加。NPs（DA为1 mg / L，ACh和GABA为10 mg / L）。另外，暴露于被TiO ₂ NP污染的海水中的蛤具有显着较低的AChE活性。此外，暴露于TiO ₂ NP后，编码的神经递质的调节酶（AChE，GABAT和MAO）和受体（mAChR3，GABAD和DRD3）的编码基因表达均显着下调。因此，这项研究证明了TiO ₂ NPs对T. granosa具有明显的神经毒性作用，这可能会对许多生物的生理过程产生重大影响。