Effects of Naked Gold Nanoparticles on Proinflammatory Cytokines mRNA Expression in Rat Liver and Kidney

Abstract

The data on the biocompatibility of naked gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are scarce, and their interpretation is controversial. We studied the acute (1 day) and subchronic (5 days) effects of GNPs (10 and 50 nm diameter) on expression of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in the liver and kidneys of rats. In the liver, the GNPs of both sizes (10 and 50 nm) significantly increased the cytokines gene expression on day 1 which was subsided on day 5; the GNPs of 50 nm size produced more severe inflammatory response as compared to smaller sized GNPs. In the kidney, the GNPs did not produce any significant change in the expression of IL-1β. Although the gene expression of IL-6 and TNF-α was not affected by GNPs of 10 nm size, 50 nm GNPs significantly increased the expression of IL-6 and TNF-α in the kidneys of rats on day 1 after treatment which returned to normalcy on day 5. These findings indicate the possible immunocompatibility of medium sized GNPs as they caused only a transient acute phase increase in proinflammatory cytokines expression followed by their normalcy during the repeated exposure.

Effects of silver nanoparticles and gold nanoparticles on IL-2, IL-6, and TNF-α production via MAPK pathway in leukemic cell lines

“…IL-2 and IL-6 regulate cell proliferation and cytokine secretion, whereas TNF-α regulates immunity, inflammation, and apoptosis (Bradley, 2008;O'Shea et al, 2008). Other studies have found that AgNPs and AuNPs upregulated cytokine expression in other cell types (Yen et al, 2009;Khan et al, 2013). However, we found that AgNPs inhibit TNF-α in Jurkat cells and AuNPs inhibit IL-2 and IL-6 in Jurkat and U937 cells in a concentration-dependent manner.…”

“…AgNPs and AuNPs upregulate the expression of the proinflammatory genes interlukin-1 (IL-1), interlukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) in macrophage cells (Yen et al, 2009). Furthermore, AuNPs have been shown to significantly increase the expression of IL-6 and TNF-α in the kidneys of rats (Khan et al, 2013). Cytokines are signaling molecules that mediate and regulate cellular activities.…”

Antioxidant and hepatoprotective role of gold nanoparticles against murine hepatic schistosomiasis

“…Khan et al 41 concluded that AuNPs (50 nm) resulted in a normal level of IL-6 gene expression in the hepatic tissue of rats on day 5 postinjection, while IL-1β and TNF-α mRNA expression was downregulated significantly on day 5. Moreover, AuNPs have no cytotoxic effect since they decrease the production of reactive oxygen species and do not stimulate secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IL-1β) making them suitable candidates for nanomedicine.…”

Effect of inhibitors of endocytosis and NF-kB signal pathway on folate-conjugated nanoparticle endocytosis by rat Kupffer cells

“…Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) may regulate phagocyte activation via the induction of cytokine production. 13 Khan et al 14 studied the time course of the effects of 10 and 50 nm diameter naked GNPs on the expression of proinflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-1 beta (IL-1β), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), in the liver and kidneys of rats. In the liver, the GNPs of both sizes (10 and 50 nm) significantly increased cytokine gene expression on Day 1, which subsided by Day 5; however, the 50 nm GNPs produced a more severe inflammatory response compared to the 10 nm GNPs.…”