Further development of mathematical description for combined toxicity: A case study of lead-fluoride combination

Experimental Testing of an Approach to Establishing Combined Toxicity of Ternary Nanoparticle Mixtures

Our studies of exposure to binary mixtures of nanoparticles (TiO₂ + SiO₂; TiO₂ + Al₂O₃ and SiO₂ + Al₂O₃) based on mathematical modelling show that their combined subchronic toxicity can either be of an additive type or deviate from it depending on the outcome, dose ratio, and levels of effect. To characterize the type of toxicity of ternary mixtures of nanoparticles, we successfully tested a previously developed approach for assessing the combined toxicity of metal ions. In this approach, the effects are classified by a null, positive, or negative change in the toxicity of binary nanoparticle mixtures when modeled against the toxicity of the third agent added.

New Data on Variously Directed Dose-Response Relationships and the Combined Action Types for Different Outcomes of in Vitro Nanoparticle Cytotoxicity

Spherical selenium-oxide and copper-oxide nanoparticles (SeO-NP with mean diameter 51 ± 14 nm and CuO-NP with mean diameter 21 ± 4 nm) were found to be cytotoxic for human fibroblast-like cells in vitro, as judged by decreased ATP-dependent luminescence. Compared with SeO-NP, CuO-NP produced a somewhat stronger effect of this kind. Along with cell hypertrophy developing in response to certain doses of SeO-NP and CuO-NP, our experiment also revealed doses causing a decrease in cell and cell-nucleus sizes. We observed both monotonic and different variants of nonmonotonic dose-response relationship. For the latter, we have succeeded in constructing adequate mathematical expressions based on the generalized hormesis paradigm that we had considered previously in respect of CdS-NP and PbS-NP cytotoxicity for cardiomyocites. It was demonstrated as well that combined toxicity of SeO-NP and CuO-NP is of different types depending on the outcome.

Comparative and Combined In Vitro Vasotoxicity of Nanoparticles Containing Lead and Cadmium

In vitro toxicological experiments were performed on an endothelial cell line exposed to different doses of spherical nanoparticles of cadmium and/or of lead sulfides with mean diameter 37 ± 5 nm and 24 ± 4 nm, respectively. Toxic effects were estimated by Luminescent Cell Viability Assay, endothelin-1 concentration and cell size determination. Some dose-response relationships were typically monotonic (well approximated with hyperbolic function) while others were bi- or even 3-phasic and could be described within the expanded hormesis paradigm. The combined toxicity type variated depending on the effect it was assessed by.

Some data on the comparative and combined toxic activity of nanoparticles containing lead and cadmium with special attention to their vasotoxicity

Moderate subchronic intoxication was induced in rats by repeated intraperitoneal injections of PbO (49.6 ± 16.0 nm) and/or CdO (57.0 ± 13.0 nm) nanoparticles (NP) three times a week during 6 weeks. In particular, there was a reduction in arterial blood pressure and in blood concentrations of a number of factors controlling vasoconstriction and vasodilation, particularly of endothelin 1 (ET-1). This toxic effect was attenuated with a bioprotective complex administered in the background. The study confirmed as well that the combined binary action typology varies depending on which effect it is estimated by.

Some outcomes and a hypothetical mechanism of combined lead and benzo(a)pyrene intoxication, and its alleviation with a complex of bioprotectors

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Rats were injected repeatedly intraperitoneally with lead acetate and/or benzo(а)pyrene solutions in various dose ratios.

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Under combined exposure the organism load with benzo(а)pyrene was increased while that with its metabolites reduced.

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The genotoxic effect of the combined exposure was higher than that of benzo(a)pyrene alone.

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This effect was inhibited by a complex of antitoxic bioprotectors.

Rats were exposed 3 times a week during 6 weeks to repeated intraperitoneal injections of lead acetate solution in water (Pb) and/or benzo(а)pyrene solution in petrolatum oil (B(а)P) in various dose ratios. Towards the end of the period, the animals developed a moderate subchronic intoxication having some features characteristic of lead effects. The type of combined toxicity estimated with the help of isoboles constructed by the Response Surface Methodology was found to be varied depending on a particular effect, its level, and dose ratio. However, Pb and B(a)P in combination often displayed an additive or even superadditive action. In the group exposed to this combination compared with the group of rats exposed to B(a)P alone, its concentration in the organism was increased while the concentration of some B(a)P oxidative metabolism products was reduced. Such inhibition of B(a)P biotransformation, assumingly associated with impaired heme and, thus, cytochrome P450 synthesis induced by lead intoxication, can serve as an explanation for certain enhancement of the genotoxic effect of B(a)P. This effect was not present in the same combined intoxication if a complex of antitoxic bioprotectors was being administered in the background.

Force-velocity characteristics of isolated myocardium preparations from rats exposed to subchronic intoxication with lead and cadmium acting separately or in combination

This investigation continues our study of the effects of Pb-Cd poisoning on the heart, extending the enquiry from isometric to auxotonic contractions, thereby examining the effect on the ability of myocardial tissues to perform mechanical work. Different shifts were revealed in myocardial force-velocity relations following subchronic exposure of rats to lead acetate and cadmium chloride acting separately, in combination, or in combination with a bioprotective complex (BPC). The experiments were conducted on isolated preparations of trabecules and papillary muscles of the right ventricle in physiological loading conditions and on isolated heart muscle contractile proteins examined by the in vitro motility assay. The results of the latter correlate with the shifts in the ratio of cardiac myosin isoforms. The amount of work performed by the myocardium was calculated on the basis of the tension-shortening loop area and was found to be similar in the preparations from all experimental groups. This fact presumably reflects adaptive capacity of the myocardial function even when contractility is damaged due to the metallic intoxication of a moderate severity. Some characteristics of rat myocardium altered by the impact of lead-cadmium intoxication became fully or partly normalized if intoxication developed against background administration of a bioprotective complex (BPC). Together with previously reported results obtained in the isometric mode of contractility, all these results strengthen the scientific foundations of risk assessment and risk management projects in the occupational and environmental conditions characterized by human exposure to lead and/or cadmium.

An overview of experiments with lead-containing nanoparticles performed by the Ekaterinburg nanotoxicological research team

Over the past few years, the Ekaterinburg (Russia) interdisciplinary nanotoxicological research team has carried out a series of investigations using different in vivo and in vitro experimental models in order to elucidate the cytotoxicity and organ-systemic and organism-level toxicity of lead-containing nanoparticles (NP) acting separately or in combinations with some other metallic NPs. The authors claim that their many-sided experience in this field is unique and that some of their important results have been obtained for the first time. This paper is an overview of the team's previous publications in different journals. It is suggested to be used as a compact scientific base for assessing health risks associated not only with the production and usage of engineered lead-containing NPs but also with their inevitable by-production as toxic air pollutants in the metallurgy of lead, copper or their alloys and in soldering operations.

Some Peculiarities in the Dose Dependence of Separate and Combined In Vitro Cardiotoxicity Effects Induced by CdS and PbS Nanoparticles With Special Attention to Hormesis Manifestations

Spherical nanoparticles (NPs) of cadmium and lead sulfides (diameter 37 ± 5 and 24 ± 4 nm, respectively) have been found to be cytotoxic for HL-1 cardiomyocytes as evidenced by decrease in adenosine triphosphate-dependent luminescence. Cadmium sulfide (CdS)-NPs were discovered to produce a much greater cytotoxic impact than lead sulphide (PbS)-NP. Given the same dose range, CdS-NP reduced the number of calcium spikes. A similar effect was observed for small doses of PbS-NP. In addition to cell hypertrophy under the impact of certain doses of CdS-NP and PbS-NP, doses causing cardiomyocyte size reduction were identified. For these 3 outcomes, we obtained both monotonic "dose-response" functions (well approximated by the hyperbolic function) and different variants of non-monotonic ones for which we found adequate mathematical expressions by modifying certain models of hormesis available in the literature. Data analysis using a response surface linear model with a cross-term provided new support to the previously established postulate that a diversity of types of joint action characteristic of one and the same pair of damaging agents is one of the important assertions of the general theory of combined toxicity.

Manifestation of Systemic Toxicity in Rats after a Short-Time Inhalation of Lead Oxide Nanoparticles

Outbred female rats were exposed to inhalation of lead oxide nanoparticle aerosol produced right then and there at a concentration of 1.30 ± 0.10 mg/m³ during 5 days for 4 h a day in a nose-only setup. A control group of rats were sham-exposed in parallel under similar conditions. Even this short-time exposure of a relatively low level was associated with nanoparticles retention demonstrable by transmission electron microscopy in the lungs and the olfactory brain. Some impairments were found in the organism’s status in the exposed group, some of which might be considered lead-specific toxicological outcomes (in particular, increase in reticulocytes proportion, in δ-aminolevulinic acid (δ-ALA) urine excretion, and the arterial hypertension’s development).

Further verification of some postulates of the combined toxicity theory: New animal experimental data on separate and joint adverse effects of lead and cadmium

Outbred male rats were repeatedly injected intraperitoneally two-level sub-lethal doses of lead acetate and/or cadmium chloride solutions 3 times a week during 6 weeks. The animals developed explicit, even if moderate, subchronic intoxication characterized by a large number of indices, both common to both metals (including increased DNA fragmentation coefficient) and lead-specific. Special attention was paid to hemodynamic and electrocardiographic effects. The combined action of lead and cadmium was modeled with the help of the Response Surface Methodology to obtain additional support for the previously substantiated postulates of combined toxicity's typological ambiguity. This is dependent on which particular effect comes under consideration, on its level, and on the acting dose ratio. For one and the same toxic combination, the type of combined toxic action can vary from synergistic to contra-directional. In particular, the actions of lead and cadmium on blood pressure were found to be opposite in direction. Furthermore, it is shown once again that the systemic toxic effects of a metal combination, its in vivo genotoxicity included, can be more or less attenuated by background administration of a theoretically justified composition of biologically active agents.

Further analysis of rat myocardium contractility changes associated with a subchronic lead intoxication

A moderate subchronic lead intoxication was observed in male rats after repeated intraperitoneal injections of lead acetate. Right ventricular trabeculae and papillary muscles were isolated for in vitro studying of the contraction-relaxation cycle under isotonic and physiological loading. The contractile function of the myocardium was also assessed by measuring the velocity of thin filament movement over myosin. Lead intoxication led in papillary muscles to a decrease in the maximal rate of isotonic shortening for all afterloads and a decrease in the thin filament sliding velocity. Papillary muscles from lead-exposed rats displayed marked changes in most of the main characteristics of afterload contraction-relaxation cycles, but in trabeculae these changes were less pronounced. The reported changes were attenuated to some extent in rats treated with a Ca-containing bioprotector. The amount of work produced by both types of heart muscle preparations was not changed by lead. Only in papillary muscles the load-dependent relaxation index was significantly increased in the lead-treated groups. Thus subchronic lead intoxication affects the peak rate of force development and relaxation properties of cardiac muscle contracting in isotonic/physiological regimes rather than the total amount of mechanical work, which may reflect adaptive changes in the myocardial function under decreased contractility.

Using Various Nonlinear Response Surfaces for Mathematical Description of the Type of Combined Toxicity

The article considers the problem of characterizing the type of combined action produced by a mixture of toxic substances with the help of nonlinear response functions. Most attention is given to second-order models: the linear model with a cross-term and the quadratic model. General propositions are formulated based on the data on combined toxicity patterns previously obtained by the Ekaterinburg nanotoxicology team in animal experiments and analyzed with the help of the linear model with a cross-term. It is shown now that the quadratic model features these general characteristics in full measure, but interpretation of combined toxicity types based on isobolograms obtained by the quadratic model is more difficult. This suggests that where both models ensure a comparable quality of combined toxicity type identification, it would be enough to use the linear model with a cross-term.

Effects of subchronic lead intoxication of rats on the myocardium contractility

Outbred male rats were repeatedly injected IP with sub-lethal doses of lead acetate 3 times a week during 5 weeks. They developed an explicit, even if moderate, lead intoxication characterized by typical hematological and some other features. The next day after the last injection the heart of each animal was excised, and the trabecules and papillary muscles from the right ventricle were used for modeling in vitro isometric (with varying starting length of the preparation) regimes of the contraction-relaxation cycle with different preloads. Several well-established parameters of this model were found changed compared with the preparations taken from the hearts of healthy control rats. Background in vivo calcium treatment attenuated both systemic and cardiotoxic effects of lead to an extent. We show for the first time that subchronic intoxication with lead caused myocardial preparations in a wide range of lengths to respond by a decrease in the time and speed parameters of the isometric contraction while maintaining its amplitude and by a decrease in the passive stiffness of trabecules. The responses of the various heart structures are outlined, and the isomyosin ratio is shown to have shifted towards the slow isoform. Mechanistic and toxicological inferences from the results are discussed.

Combined Subchronic Toxicity of Aluminum (III), Titanium (IV) and Silicon (IV) Oxide Nanoparticles and Its Alleviation with a Complex of Bioprotectors

Stable suspensions of metal/metalloid oxide nanoparticles (MeO-NPs) obtained by laser ablation of 99.99% pure elemental aluminum, titanium or silicon under a layer of deionized water were used separately, or in three binary combinations, or in a ternary combination to induce subchronic intoxications in rats. To this end, the MeO-NPs were repeatedly injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) 18 times during 6 weeks before measuring a large number of functional, biochemical, morphological and cytological indices for the organism’s status. In many respects, the Al₂O₃-NP was found to be the most toxic species alone and the most dangerous component of the combinations studied. Mathematical modeling with the help of the Response Surface Methodology showed that, as well as in the case of any other binary toxic combinations previously investigated by us, the organism’s response to a simultaneous exposure to any two of the MeO-NP species under study was characterized by a complex interaction between all possible types of combined toxicity (additivity, subadditivity or superadditivity of unidirectional action and different variants of opposite effects) depending on which outcome this type was estimated for and on effect and dose levels. With any third MeO-NP species acting in the background, the type of combined toxicity displayed by the other two remained virtually the same or changed significantly, becoming either more or less unfavorable. Various harmful effects produced by the (Al₂O₃-NP + TiO₂-NP + SiO₂-NP)-combination, including its genotoxicity, were substantially attenuated by giving the rats per os during the entire exposure period a complex of innocuous bioactive substances expected to increase the organism’s antitoxic resistance.

The most important inferences from the Ekaterinburg nanotoxicology team's animal experiments assessing adverse health effects of metallic and metal oxide nanoparticles

During 2009-2017 we have studied nanoparticles of elemental silver or gold and of iron, copper, nickel, manganese, lead, zinc, aluminium and titanium oxides (Me-NPs) using, in most cases, a single low-dose intratracheal instillation 24 h before the bronchoalveolar lavage to obtain a fluid for cytological and biochemical assessment and, in all cases, repeated intraperitoneal injections in non-lethal doses to induce subchronic intoxications assessed by a lot of toxicodynamic and toxicokinetic features. We have also studied the same effects for a number of relevant combinations of these Me-NPs and have revealed some important patterns of their combined toxicity. Besides, we have carried out long-term inhalation experiments with Fe2O3, NiO and amorphous SiO2 nano-aerosols. We have demonstrated that Me-NPs are much more noxious as compared with their fine micrometric counterparts although the physiological mechanisms of their elimination from the lungs proved to be highly active. Even if water-insoluble, Me-NPs are significantly solubilized in some biological milieus in vitro and in vivo, which may explain some important peculiarities of their toxicity. At the same time, the in situ cytotoxicity, organ-systemic toxicity and in vivo genotoxicity of Me-NPs strongly depends on specific mechanisms characteristic of a particular metal. For some of the Me-NPs studied, we have proposed standards of presumably safe concentrations in workplace air. Along with this, we have proved that the adverse effects of Me-NPs could be significantly alleviated by background or preliminary administration of adequately composed combinations of some bioprotectors.

Are in vivo and in vitro assessments of comparative and combined toxicity of the same metallic nanoparticles compatible, or contradictory, or both? A juxtaposition of data obtained in respective experiments with NiO and Mn3O4 nanoparticles

Comparative and combined damaging effects of NiO and Mn₃O₄ nanoparticles were estimated on cultures of several established human cell lines. The cytotoxicity indices used were: (a) reduction in cellular dehydrogenase activity, (b) decrease in the ATP-content, (c) for SH-SY5Y cells also decrease in the tyrosine hydroxylase content. The combined cytotoxicity was modeled using the Response Surface Methodology. When assessing the stability of metal oxide nanoparticles (MeO-NPs) in cultural media used by us, we found that the addition of the fetal bovine serum (FBS) to them renders NiO-NPs and, to even greater extent, Mn₃O₄-NPs exponentially slow soluble while without FBS their dissolution was virtually undetectable. At the same time, sedimentation of these MeO-NPs noticeably slowed down in the presence of the same FBS. We have found dependence of cell damage on concentrations of MeO-NPs and higher cytotoxicity of Mn₃O₄-NP compared with NiO-NP. Thus, comparative assessment of the NPs unspecific toxicity obtained in our animal experiments was reproduced by the "in vitro" tests. However, with respect to manganese-specific brain damage "in vivo" discovered previously, present experiments on neurons "in vitro" showed only a certain enhancing effect of Mn₃O₄-NP on the action of NiO-NP, but the role of NiO-NP in the combination prevailed.

Experimental study and mathematical modeling of toxic metals combined action as a scientific foundation for occupational and environmental health risk assessment. A summary of results obtained by the Ekaterinburg research team (Russia)

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Cumulative health risks assessment should be based on toxicology of mixtures.

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Some principal discrepancies between these domains are discussed by the authors.

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While simplification of the theory is inevitable, its vulgarization should be avoided.

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Our contribution to this theory and its practical applications is summarized here.

Assessment of cumulative health risks associated with the widely observed combined effects of two or more metals and their compounds on the organism has the toxicology of mixtures as its scientific basis although there is no full match between such assessment and this basis while some of the contradictions between them are of a fundamental nature. This state of things may be explained not only by simplifications characteristic of the generally recognized methodology of risk assessment but also by extreme complexity of the theory of combined toxicity, the most essential issues of which are considered by authors on the basis of literary and, mostly, their own previously published data.

In vivo toxicity of copper oxide, lead oxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles acting in different combinations and its attenuation with a complex of innocuous bio-protectors

Stable suspensions of metal oxide nanoparticles (Me-NPs) obtained by laser ablation of 99.99% pure copper, zinc or lead under a layer of deionized water were used separately, in three binary combinations and a triple combination in two independent experiments on rats. In one of the experiments the rats were instilled with Me-NPs intratracheally (i.t.) (for performing a broncho-alveolar lavage in 24h to estimate the cytological and biochemical indices of the response of the lower airways), while in the other, Me-NPs were repeatedly injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) 18 times during 6 weeks (for estimating the accumulation of corresponding metals in the blood and their excretion with urine and feces and for assessing subchronic intoxication by a large number of functional and morphological indices). Mathematical description of the results from both experiments with the help of the Response Surface Methodology has shown that, as well as in the case of any other binary toxic combinations previously investigated by us, the response of the organism to a simultaneous exposure to any two of the Me-NPs under study is characterized by complex interactions between all possible types of combined toxicity (additivity, subadditivity or superadditivity of unidirectional action and different variants of opposite effects) depending on which effect it is estimated for as well as on the levels of the effect and dose. With any third Me-NP species acting in the background, the type of combined toxicity displayed by the other two may change significantly (as in the earlier described case of a triple combination of soluble metal salts). It is shown that various harmful effects produced by CuO-NP+ZnO-NP+PbO-NP combination may be substantially attenuated by giving rats per os a complex of innocuous bioactive substances theoretically expected to provide a protective integral and/or metal-specific effect during one month before i.t. instillation or during the entire period of i.p. injections.

Effect of Lead Exposure on the Status of Reticulocyte Count Indices among Workers from Lead Battery Manufacturing Plant

Earlier studies conducted on lead-exposed workers have determined the reticulocyte count (RC) (%), but the parameters of Absolute Reticulocyte Count (ARC), Reticulocyte Index (RI), and Reticulocyte Production Index (RPI) were not reported. This study assessed the effect of lead (Pb) exposure on the status of reticulocyte count indices in workers occupied in lead battery plants. The present cross-sectional study was carried out on 391 male lead battery workers. The blood lead levels (BLL) were determined by using an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The RC (%) was estimated by using the supravital staining method. The parameters, such as ARC, RI, and RPI, were calculated by using the RC (%) with the red cell indices (RBC count and hematocrit). The levels of RBC count and hematocrit were determined by using an ABX Micros ES-60 hematology analyzer. The levels of reticulocyte count indices - RC (%), ARC, RI, and RPI significantly increased with elevated BLL. The association between BLL and reticulocyte count indices was positive and significant. The results of linear multiple regression analysis showed that the reticulocyte count (β = 0.212, P < 0.001), ARC (β = 0.217, P < 0.001), RI (β = 0.194, P < 0.001), and RPI (β = 0.208, P < 0.001) were positively associated with BLL. The variable, smoking habits, showed a significant positive association with reticulocyte count indices: RC (%) (β = 0.188, P < 0.001), ARC (β = 0.174, P < 0.001), RI (β = 0.200, P < 0.001), and RPI (β = 0.151, P < 0.005). The study results revealed that lead exposure may cause reticulocytosis with an increase of reticulocyte count indices.

Changes in the Dose-Response Relationship of One Toxicant Under Simultaneous Exposure to Another Toxicant

We considered, in general form for a 22 full factorial experiment, linear approximations of the organism's dose-response relationship for some factors operating alone and modification of this relationship by another factor operating in the background. A typological classification of such modifications is suggested. An analysis of the outcomes obtained in a number of subchronic animal experiments on rats in which this response was assessed by changes in a large number of biomedical indices revealed that all theoretically possible variants (types) of the modification under consideration are actually observed depending on a specific index and specific harmful exposure. Statistical significance estimation procedures are formulated for each of them.

The pulmonary phagocytosis response to separate and combined impacts of manganese (IV) and chromium (VI) containing particulates

We investigated by the optical microscopy some cytological characteristics of the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid cell population 24h after intratracheal instillation of microscale MnO₂ and BaCrO₄ particles (separately or together at two different doses) into the lungs of Wistar rats. Besides, the cytotoxicity of both particulates for rat peritoneal macrophages in vitro was assessed by the trypan blue exclusion test and proved significant. They were found to evoke a typical dose-dependent pulmonary phagocytosis response usually observed under inhalation or intratracheal impacts of low-soluble mineral and metal particles. A significant shift in the above mentioned cell population toward the prevalence of neutrophllic leukocytes (NL) over alveolar macrophages (AM) proved once more to be the most characteristic feature of this response. Although the particle load of a unit AM was always higher than that of a unit NL, the collective contribution of the recruited NLs to the total particles internalization by both AMs and NLs together was quite significant. This fact confirms that NL recruitment is an important auxiliary mechanism of the cytotoxic particle elimination from lungs compensating for the macrophage damage caused by them. Well adjusted functioning of this compensatory mechanism was additionally demonstrated by isobolographic analysis based on the Response Surface Methodology. On the other hand, this analysis confirmed that the type of combined toxicity depends on a particular effect this type is assessed for and on the effect's dose-dependent level.

Identification of combined action types in experiments with two toxicants: a response surface linear model with a cross term

Within the framework of the response surface linear model with a cross term, i.e. a model of the type Y(x1, x2) = b0 + b1x1 + b2x2 + b12x1x2 (hyperbolic paraboloid), a complete solution of identification of combined action types of two toxicants x1 and x2 is presented. It is shown that the type of combined effect in this model is determined by two factors: the direction in which the toxicants act (unidirectional or oppositely directed), and the position of the saddle point S of a hyperbolic paraboloid. For unidirectional actions of toxicants, already-known ways to identify the type of combined effect (including a shape of the isobole: concave-up or concave-down) provided identical and unambiguous answers regarding the type of combined effect (antagonism or synergism). For oppositely directed actions of toxicants, the shape of the isobole (concave-up or concave-down) did not allow us to determine the type of combined action type unambiguously. We show that in both cases (unidirectional or oppositely directed actions of toxicants) the signs of the model coefficients b1, b2 and b12, in conjunction with the coordinates of the saddle point S help unambiguously identify the type of combined action by comparing the observed effect with the zero interaction response surface. An atlas of all possibly combined action types for two toxicants for the hyperbolic paraboloid model was created. Applications of the developed formalism to experimental data are provided.

Some patterns of metallic nanoparticles' combined subchronic toxicity as exemplified by a combination of nickel and manganese oxide nanoparticles

Stable suspensions of NiO and/or Mn3O4 nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 16.7 ± 8.2 nm and 18.4 ± 5.4 nm, respectively, prepared by laser ablation of 99.99% pure metals in de-ionized water were repeatedly injected IP to rats at a dose of 0.50 mg or 0.25 mg 3 times a week up to 18 injections, either separately or in different combinations. Many functional indices as well as histological features of the liver, spleen, kidneys and brain were evaluated for signs of toxicity. The accumulation of Ni and Mn in these organs was measured with the help of AES and EPR methods. Both metallic nanoparticles proved adversely bio-active, but those of Mn3O4 were found to be more noxious in most of the non-specific toxicity manifestations. Moreover, they induced a more marked damaging effect in the neurons of the caudate nucleus and hippocampus which may be considered an experimental correlate of manganese-induced parkinsonism. Mathematical analysis based on the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) revealed a diversity of combined toxicity types depending not only on particular effects these types are assessed for but on their level as well. The prognostic power of the RSM model proved satisfactory.

Further development of the theory and mathematical description of combined toxicity: An approach to classifying types of action of three-factorial combinations (a case study of manganese-chromium-nickel subchronic intoxication)

For characterizing the three-factorial toxicity, we proposed a new health risk-oriented approach, the gist of which is a classification of effects depending on whether a binary combined toxicity's type remains virtually the same or appears to be either more or less adverse when modeled against the background of a third toxic. To explore possibilities of this approach, we used results of an experiment in which rats had been injected ip 3 times a week (up to 20 injections) with a water solution of either one of the toxics (Mn, Ni or Cr-VI salts) in a dose equivalent to 0.05 LD50, or any two of them, or all the three in the same doses, the controls receiving injections of the same volume of distilled water (4mL per rat). Judging by more than 30 indices for the organism's status, all exposures caused subchronic intoxication of mild to moderate strength. For each two-factorial exposure, we found by mathematical modeling based on the isobolograms that the binary combined subchronic toxicity either was of additive type or departed from it (predominantly toward subadditivity) depending on the effect assessed, dose, and effect level. For the three-factorial combination, different classes of effects were observed rather consistently: class A - those regarding which the third toxic's addition made the binary toxicity type more unfavorable for the organism, class B - those regarding which the result was opposite, and class C - those regarding which the type of binary combined toxicity on the background of a third toxic virtually remained the same as in its absence. We found a complicated reciprocal influence of combined metals on their retention in kidneys, liver, spleen and brain which might presumably be one of the possible mechanisms of combined toxicity, but the lack of an explicit correspondence between the above influence and the influence on toxicity effects suggests that this mechanism is not always the most important one. The relevance of the proposed classification to health risk analysis and management is briefly discussed.