Subchronic oral toxicity evaluation of gold nanoparticles in male and female mice

Abstract

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are biocompatible nanomaterials with potential application in the food industry. The safety of AuNPs oral consumption remains inconclusive, and information on possible long-term toxicity is limited. The current study aimed to evaluate the subchronic oral toxicity of AuNPs in male and female Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice. Citrate-coated spherical AuNPs with 53 nm diameters were prepared and orally administered to the mice. No mortality or clinical abnormalities were observed following daily administration of AuNPs at the dosages of 0.2, 2, and 20 mg/kg for 90 days. There was no significant difference in body weight or the relative organs' weights between the control and AuNPs-treated mice. No gross abnormalities or histopathological changes were observed except that the male mice treated with high dose (20 mg/kg AuNPs) showed minor infiltration in the kidneys, and female mice showed a reduced A/G ratio and elevated platelet indices. Overall, the 90-day long-term oral consumption of AuNPs did not cause significant toxicity in mice.

Nanoparticles as Next-Generation Tooth-Whitening Agents: Progress and Perspectives

“…They demonstrated that mice dosed with AuNPs (20 mg/kg) daily for 90 days showed minimal changes in hematological and biochemical factors (Ca and serum proteins), and these differences were not toxicologically significant. 196 Therefore, further toxicological studies on the biodistribution and metabolism of AuNPs are required before their use in tooth whitening. Recently, Kakhki et al synthesized AuNPs and used them as catalysts for tooth whitening.…”

“…However, Sun et al recently reported no obvious adverse effects of orally administered AuNPs. They demonstrated that mice dosed with AuNPs (20 mg/kg) daily for 90 days showed minimal changes in hematological and biochemical factors (Ca and serum proteins), and these differences were not toxicologically significant . Therefore, further toxicological studies on the biodistribution and metabolism of AuNPs are required before their use in tooth whitening.…”

Targeted delivery of gold nanoparticles by neural stem cells to glioblastoma for enhanced radiation therapy: a review

“…The assessment of AuNPs could be done based on the potential hazards of AuNPs which included the in vivo modification of AuNPs, the interaction and catalytic properties of AuNPS in biological system and the distribution and accumulation of AuNP in the liver and other organs based on the Safety Assessment Guidelines approved by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for the Testing of Chemicals [47] , [48] . A number of in vitro and in vivo studies have been conducted to evaluate the potential toxic effects of AuNPs in various cell lines such as human keratinocyte cells (HaCaT) [49] , human colorectal adenocarcinoma cells (HT29) [50] , and in animal models such as mice [47] , rats [51] , rabbit [52] , zebrafish [53] and even the Drosophila melanogaster [54] . Despite the inconsistencies in reported AuNP toxicological data, it is generally found that the toxicity is size- and dose-dependent whereby the smaller sized and higher levels of AuNPs lead to higher cytotoxicity with unintended side effects on human health [46] .…”

Exposure to high dosage of gold nanoparticles accelerates growth rate in bacteria and yeast by modulating ribosomal protein expression.

“…An ideal size of 3-13 nm AuNPs is used for drug delivery and diagnostic [5][6][7][8][9] as spherical AuNPs (<10 nm diameter) can not only be internalized via the cell-membrane 10,11 but can also be secreted out of the body via renal filtration 12 . Despite this, biocompatibility (cytotoxicity) reports of AuNPs with various model organisms including, bacteria 13,14 , yeast 15 , in vitro cell lines 16 , fruit fly 17 and murine model 18 remains contradictory (Table -1). Conflicts in these reports can be attributed to variations in the size, shape, surface charge and stabilizing agents 19 , which confer distinct biochemical and biophysical properties to AuNPs.…”