title: Novel route synthesis of porous and solid gold nanoparticles for investigating their comparative performance as contrast agent in computed tomography scan and effect on liver and kidney function.
abstract: Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) with dimension in the range of 1-100 nm have a prominent role in a number of biomedical applications like imaging, drug delivery, and cancer therapy owing to their unique optical features and biocompatibility. In this work, we report a novel technique for the synthesis of two types of GNPs namely porous gold nanoparticles (PGNPs) and solid gold nanoparticles (SGNPs). PGNPs of size 35 nm were fabricated by reduction of gold (III) solution with lecithin followed by addition of L-ascorbic acid and tri-sodium citrate, whereas SGNPs with a dimension of 28 nm were prepared by reflux method using lecithin as a single reducing agent. Comparative studies using PGNPs (λmax560 nm) and SGNPs (λmax548 nm) were conducted for evaluating their use as a contrast agent. These studies reveled that in direct computed tomography scan, PGNPs exhibited brighter contrast (45 HU) than SGNPs (26 HU). To investigate the effect of PGNPs and SGNPs on the liver and kidney profile, male rabbits were intravenously injected with an equal dose of 1 mg/kg weight of PGNPs and SGNPs. The effect on biochemical parameters was evaluated 72 hours after intravenous (IV) injection including liver function profile, renal (kidney) function biomarker, random blood glucose value, and cholesterol level. During one comparison of contrast in CT scan, PGNPs showed significantly enhanced contrast in whole-rabbit and organ CT scan as compared to SGNPs 6 hours after injection. Our findings suggested that the novel PGNPs enhance CT scan image with higher efficacy as compared to SGNPs. The results showed that IV administration of synthesized PGNPs increases the levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphate (ALP), serum creatinine, and blood glucose, whereas that of SGNPs increases the levels of AST, ALP, and blood glucose.
authors.affiliation: Nanobiotechnology Group, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad; Department of Physics, Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur.
authors.forename: Farooq
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aziz
authors.affiliation: Nanobiotechnology Group, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad.
authors.forename: Ayesha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ihsan
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur.
authors.forename: Aalia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nazir
authors.affiliation: National Center for Physics, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Ishaq
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.affiliation: Nanobiotechnology Group, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad.
authors.forename: Sadia Zafar
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Bajwa
authors.affiliation: Nanobiotechnology Group, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad.
authors.forename: Asma
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rehman
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Photonics and Nano-Fabrication, Faculty of Science and Technology, Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar (UCAD), Dakar-Fann Dakar, Senegal.
authors.forename: Abdoulaye
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Diallo
authors.affiliation: Nanobiotechnology Group, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad.
authors.forename: Waheed S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D006046:Gold / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry*; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D007668:Kidney / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D007677:Kidney Function Tests; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry*; D011817:Rabbits; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D006046:Gold
keywords: CT scan; contrast agent; liver function test; porous gold nanoparticles; renal function test; solid gold nanoparticles