Abstract

Environmental context Antimony is a metalloid occurring at overall low concentrations in the Earth's crust. Owing to anthropogenic activities, however, antimony can be found at elevated and detrimental levels in some environments. We report eco-toxicological effects of antimony in biological models, results from which can help predict antimony's ecological and environmental impact. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of Sb-III on cell integrity, expression of profibrotic factors and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in mouse cortical collecting duct cells (M-1 cell line). M-1 cells were incubated with Sb-III for 24 h. Cell morphology and RNA expression level (connecting tissue growth factor, CTGF), alpha-SMOOTH MUSCLE ACTIN (alpha-SMA) and collagen I were analysed. The total Sb content according to each cell compartment was determined and ROS production was measured. Eighty percent of the total Sb was detected in the extracellular medium. A significant increase in ROS production and CTGF protein expression were observed at 100 mu g L-1 Sb-III. M-1 cells showed a non-classic epithelial cell shape at 100 mu g L-1 and a reduction in the collecting duct-specific marker aquaporin-2. At 100 mu g L-1, the number of collagen I-positive cells increased. At 300 mu g L-1, a gross cell nuclear rupture was observed. These results demonstrate that an Sb-III concentration of 100 mu g L-1 is able to promote the induction of CTGF and collagen I along with the induction of ROS, which suggests a cytotoxicity of Sb-III in M-1 kidney collecting duct cells.