Vanadium is a toxic
metal listed by the IARC as possibly carcinogenic to humans. Manufactured nanosize
vanadium pentoxide (
V2O5) materials are used in a wide range of industrial sectors and recently have been developed as nanomedicine for
cancer therapeutics, yet limited information is available to evaluate relevant nanotoxicity. In this study we used high-resolution metabolomics to assess effects of two
V2O5 nanomaterials, nanoparticles and nanofibers, at exposure levels (0.01, 0.1, and 1 ppm) that did not cause cell death (i.e., non-cytotoxic) in a human airway epithelial cell line, BEAS-2B. As prepared,
V2O5 nanofiber exhibited a fibrous morphology, with a width approximately 63 ± 12 nm and length in average 420 ± 70 nm; whereas,
V2O5 nanoparticles showed a typical particle morphology with a size 36 ± 2 nm. Both
V2O5 nanoparticles and nanofibers had dose-response effects on aminosugar,
amino acid,
fatty acid,
carnitine,
niacin and
nucleotide metabolism. Differential effects of the particles and fibers included dibasic
acid,
glycosphingolipid and
glycerophospholipid pathway associations with
V2O5 nanoparticles, and
cholesterol and
sialic acid metabolism associations with
V2O5 nanofibers. Examination by transmission electron microscopy provided evidence for mitochondrial stress and increased lysosome fusion by both nanomaterials, and these data were supported by effects on mitochondrial membrane potential and lysosomal activity. The results showed that non-cytotoxic exposures to
V2O5 nanomaterials impact major metabolic pathways previously associated with human
lung diseases and suggest that toxico-metabolomics may be useful to evaluate health risks from
V2O5 nanomaterials.