title: Repeated-dose toxicity and inflammatory responses in mice by oral administration of silver nanoparticles.
abstract: Toxicity of nanoparticles depends on many factors including size, shape, chemical composition, surface area, surface charge, and others. In this study, we compared the toxicity of different sized-silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) which are being widely used in consumer products due to its unique antimicrobial activity. When mice were treated with AgNPs 1mg/kg for 14 days by oral administration, small-sized AgNPs (22nm, 42nm, and 71nm) were distributed to the organs including brain, lung, liver, kidney, and testis while large-sized AgNPs (323nm) were not detected in those tissues. The levels of TGF-β in serum were also significantly increased in the treated group of small-sized AgNPs but not in large-sized AgNPs. In addition, B cell distribution was increased in small-sized AgNPs but not in large-sized-AgNPs by the phenotype analysis. However, body weight or in the ratio of organ/body weight were not different between the control group and all the AgNPs-treated groups. The repeated-dose toxicity of AgNPs (42nm) was also investigated in mice by oral administration for 28 days. By the administration of AgNPs (0.25mg/kg, 0.50mg/kg, 1.00mg/kg), adverse impacts on liver and kidney were observed in a high dose-treated group (1.00mg/kg), when determined by blood chemistry and histipathological analysis. Cytokines including IL-1, IL-6, IL-4, IL-10, IL-12, and TGF-β were also increased in a dose-dependent manner by repeated oral administration. In addition, B cell distribution in lymphocyte and IgE production were increased. Based on these results, it is suggested that repeated oral administration of nano-sized AgNPs may cause organ toxicity and inflammatory responses in mice.
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmacy, Dongduk Women's University, 23-1, Wolgok-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 136-714, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Eun-Jung
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Eunjoo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.forename: Jongheop
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Younghun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kyunghee
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Sang Hee
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Junheon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Byung Chun
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kwangsik
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Park