Toxicity and serum metabolomics investigation of Mn-doped ZnS quantum dots in mice

Yanjie Yang,1 Shuangyu Lv,1 Fengling Wang,1 Yang An,1 Na Fang,1 Weijuan Zhang,1 Wei Zhao,1 Xiangqian Guo,1 Shaoping Ji1,21School of Basic Medical Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, People’s Republic of China; 2Henan Provincial Engineering Centre of Tumor Molecular Diagnosis and Therapy & Kaifeng Municipal Key Laboratory of Cell Signal Transduction, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, People’s Republic of ChinaPurpose: Mn-doped ZnS quantum dots (QDs) with special luminescent properties have been widely researched and applied in various fields. Thus, their release toxicity and security cannot be ignored.Methods: In the present study, the toxicity and non-targeted metabolomics of Mn-doped ZnS QDs were investigated after single intravenous injection. Serum metabolites were evaluated based on gas chromatography–mass spectrometry together with multivariate statistical analyses [principal component analysis, partial least squares discriminant analysis, and orthogonal PLS-DA].Results: The modified metabolites (variable importance in the projection (VIP) >1 and p