Effects of Injection of Carbon Nanotubes on EEG and Results of a Behavioral Test in Rats

Abstract

We examined the biocompatibility of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) injected i.p. into rats (1 mg/kg body mass) by recording EEG from the frontal and occipital cortex and performing the water maze router test before and after such injection. For EEG, the energy and average power spectral density of wavelet coefficients in the β, α, and θ bands were considered the features. In the water maze router experiment, the distance, time, and speed of rats were investigated as behavioral factors. Comparison of EEG signals before and after injection showed that introduction of CNTs exerted no significant effect on electrophysiological brain indices. A comparison of behavioral factors before and after injection, however, showed that injections of CNTs increased the pacing distance and time to find the desired platform and decreased somewhat the speed in the water maze router experiment. A possible reason of this phenomenon is the possible influence of CNTs on ion fluxes in brain neurons.

Incorporation of Levodopa into Biopolymer Coatings Based on Carboxylated Carbon Nanotubes for pH-Dependent Sustained Release Drug Delivery

“…As an ideal carrier for targeted drug delivery, the administration, absorption and transportation of CNT must be carefully investigated to achieve optimum therapeutic effects. The commonly studied routes of CNT administration include oral [ 48 , 49 ] and injection (subcutaneous injection, abdominal injection and intravenous injection) [ 50 , 51 ]. The pH study ( Figure 4 ) shows that LD is easily released at pH 7.4 which is the blood pH, suggesting that the intravenous delivery is a possible way of administration.…”

Physiological and Pathological Factors Affecting Drug Delivery to the Brain by Nanoparticles

“…injection into rats. [ 281 ] It has also been shown that functionalized CNTs caused the release of inflammatory cytokines in the mouse brain, following cortical stereotactic administration. [ 282 ] These observations may be the reason that there have been no clinical trials for the use of CNTs for the treatment of brain glioblastoma.…”

Scanning Techniques for Nanobioconjugates of Carbon Nanotubes

“…For use in drug delivery, it is crucial to demonstrate that CNTs are not toxic. Many studies that did not utilize scanning techniques have intensively studied the toxicity of CNTs ([ 135 , 169 , 190 – 215 ]. The use of scanning techniques has proven advantageous for toxicity studies [ 85 , 214 , 216 – 219 ].…”