title: Biodistribution, pharmacokinetics and toxicology of Ag2S near-infrared quantum dots in mice.
abstract: Ag2S quantum dots (QDs) have been demonstrated as a promising near-infrared II (NIR-II, 1.0-1.4 μm) emitting nanoprobe for in vivo imaging and detection. In this work, we carefully study the long-term in vivo biodistribution of Ag2S QDs functionalized with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and systematically examine the potential toxicity of Ag2S QDs over time. Our results show that PEGylated-Ag2S QDs are mainly accumulated in the reticuloendothelial system (RES) including liver and spleen after intravenous administration and can be gradually cleared, mostly by fecal excretion. PEGylated-Ag2S QDs do not cause appreciable toxicity at our tested doses (15 and 30 mg/kg) to the treated mice over a period of 2 months as evidenced by blood biochemistry, hematological analysis and histological examinations. Our work lays a solid foundation for further biomedical applications of Ag2S QDs as an important in vivo imaging agent in the NIR-II region.
authors: Division of Nanobiomedicine and i-Lab, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors: Yan
authors: Y
authors: Zhang
authors: Yejun
authors: Y
authors: Zhang
authors: Guosong
authors: G
authors: Hong
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: He
authors: Kun
authors: K
authors: Zhou
authors: Kai
authors: K
authors: Yang
authors: Feng
authors: F
authors: Li
authors: Guangcun
authors: G
authors: Chen
authors: Zhuang
authors: Z
authors: Liu
authors: Hongjie
authors: H
authors: Dai
authors: Qiangbin
authors: Q
authors: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry; D045663:Quantum Dots; D018030:Silver Compounds / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared
chemical_list: D018030:Silver Compounds; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; C013251:silver sulfide