title: Toxicity evaluation of hydrophilic CdTe quantum dots and CdTe@SiO2 nanoparticles in mice.
abstract: Quantum dots have drawn tremendous attention in the field of in vitro and small animal in vivo fluorescence imaging in the last decade. However, concerns over the cytotoxicity of their heavy metal constituents have limited their use in clinical applications. Here, we report our comparative studies on the toxicities of quantum dots (QDs) and silica coated CdTe nanoparticles (NPs) to mice after intravenous injection. The blood cells analysis showed significant increased level of white blood cells (WBCs) in groups treated with CdTe QDs as compared to the control while red blood cells (RBCs) and platelet counts were normal in treated as well as control groups. The concentration of biochemical markers of hepatic damage, alanine amino transferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were in the normal range in all the groups. However, renal function analyses of mice showed significantly increased in the concentration of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine (CREA) in mice treated with CdTe QDs while remained within normal ranges in both the CdTe@SiO2 NPs and control group. The results of histopathology showed that the CdTe QDs caused mild nephrotoxicity while other organs were normal and no abnormalities were detected in control and CdTe@SiO2 treated group. These findings suggest that the nephrotoxicity could be minimized by silica coating which would be useful for many biomedical applications.
authors: Advanced Photonics Center, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China.
authors: Asma
authors: A
authors: Sadaf
authors: Basit
authors: B
authors: Zeshan
authors: Zhuyuan
authors: Z
authors: Wang
authors: Ruohu
authors: R
authors: Zhang
authors: Shuhong
authors: S
authors: Xu
authors: Chunlei
authors: C
authors: Wang
authors: Yiping
authors: Y
authors: Cui
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019187:Cadmium Compounds / Q000633:toxicity*; D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible / Q000633:toxicity*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000633:toxicity*; D045663:Quantum Dots; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000633:toxicity*; D013691:Tellurium / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D019187:Cadmium Compounds; D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D013691:Tellurium; C028337:cadmium telluride