Adverse effects of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on beneficial gut bacteria and host health based on untargeted metabolomics analysis.

Titanium dioxide (TiO) is a common additive in foods, medicines, and personal care products. In recent years, nano-scale particles in TiO additives have been an increasing concern due to their potential adverse effects on human health, especially gut health. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO NPs, 30 nm) on beneficial gut bacteria and host response from a metabolomics perspective. In the in vitro study, four bacterial strains, including Lactobacillus reuteri, Lactobacillus gasseri, Bifidobacterium animalis, and Bifidobacterium longum were subjected to the treatment of TiO NPs. The growth kinetics, cell viability, cell membrane permeability, and metabolomics response were determined. TiO NPs at the concentration of 200 μg/mL showed inhibitory effects on the growth of all four strains. The confocal microscope results indicated that the growth inhibitory effects could be associated with cell membrane damage caused by TiO NPs to the bacterial strains. Metabolomics analysis showed that TiO NPs caused alterations in multiple metabolic pathways of gut bacteria, such as tryptophan and arginine metabolism, which were demonstrated to play crucial roles in regulating gut and host health. In the in vivo study, mice were fed with TiO NPs (0.1 wt% in diet) for 8 weeks. Mouse urine was collected for metabolomics analysis and the tryptophan metabolism pathway was also significantly affected in TiO NPs-fed mice. Moreover, four neuroprotective metabolites were significantly reduced in both in vitro bacteria and in vivo urine samples. Overall, this study provides insights into the potential adverse effects of TiO NPs on gut bacteria and the metabolic responses of both bacteria and host. Further research is needed to understand the causality between gut bacteria composition and the metabolism pathway, which is critical to monitor the gut-microbiome mediated metabolome changes in toxicological assessment of food components.