Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 15 (2), 929-935
IntroductionThere are three mineral forms of natural titanium dioxide particles: rutile, anatase and brookite. Engineered anatase and rutile nanosized titanium dioxide particles (anTiO 2 and rnTiO 2 ) are being manufactured in large quantities worldwide and applied in many fields including material industry, electronic industry, commercial products and biosystems. Due to differences in crystal structure, anTiO 2 has better photocatalytic activity than rnTiO 2 (Kakinoki et al., 2004). Accordingly, anTiO 2 is mainly used in paints, such as surface painting of the walls and windows of buildings and vehicles, and photocatalytic systems, while rnTiO 2 is preferentially used in cosmetics, sunscreen and food additives.Large quantity production and widespread application of nTiO 2 have given rise to concern about its health and
AbstractTwo types of nanosized titanium dioxide, anatase (anTiO 2 ) and rutile (rnTiO 2 ), are widely used in industry, commercial products and biosystems. TiO 2 has been evaluated as a Group 2B carcinogen. Previous reports indicated that anTiO 2 is less toxic than rnTiO 2 , however, under ultraviolet irradiation anTiO 2 is more toxic than rnTiO 2 in vitro because of differences in their crystal structures. In the present study, we compared the in vivo and in vitro toxic effects induced by anTiO 2 and rnTiO 2 . Female SD rats were treated with 500 mg/ml of anTiO 2 or rnTiO 2 suspensions by intra-pulmonary spraying 8 times over a two week period. In the lung, treatment with anTiO 2 or rnTiO 2 increased alveolar macrophage numbers and levels of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG); these increases tended to be lower in the anTiO 2 treated group compared to the rnTiO 2 treated group. Expression of MIP1a mRNA and protein in lung tissues treated with anTiO 2 and rnTiO 2 was also significantly up-regulated, with MIP1a mRNA and protein expression significantly lower in the anTiO 2 group than in the rnTiO 2 group. In cell culture of primary alveolar macrophages (PAM) treated with anTiO 2 and rnTiO 2 , expression of MIP1a mRNA in the PAM and protein in the culture media was significantly higher than in control cultures. Similarly to the in vivo results, MIP1a mRNA and protein expression was significantly lower in the anTiO 2 treated cultures compared to the rnTiO 2 treated cultures. Furthermore, conditioned cell culture media from PAM cultures treated with anTiO 2 had less effect on A549 cell proliferation compared to conditioned media from cultures treated with rnTiO 2 . However, no significant difference was found in the toxicological effects on cell viability of ultra violet irradiated anTiO 2 and rnTiO 2 . In conclusion, our results indicate that anTiO 2 is less potent in induction of alveolar macrophage infiltration, 8-OHdG and MIP1a expression in the lung, and growth stimulation of A549 cells in vitro than rnTiO 2 .