subchronic oral toxicity of silver nanoparticles.pdfVIP

Kim et al. Particle and Fibre Toxicology 2010, 7:20 /content/7/1/20 RESEARCH Open Access Subchronic oral toxicity of silver nanoparticles 1,7 1 2 1 1 3 Yong Soon Kim , Moon Yong Song , Jung Duck Park , Kyung Seuk Song , Hyeon Ryol Ryu , Yong Hyun Chung , Hee Kyung Chang4 8 5 6 7 1,8* , Ji Hyun Lee , Kyung Hui Oh , Bruce J Kelman , In Koo Hwang , Il Je Yu Abstract Background: The antibacterial effect of silver nanoparticles has resulted in their extensive application in health, electronic, consumer, medicinal, pesticide, and home products; however, silver nanoparticles remain a controversial area of research with respect to their toxicity in biological and ecological systems. Results: This study tested the oral toxicity of silver nanoparticles (56 nm) over a period of 13 weeks (90 days) in F344 rats following Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) test guideline 408 and Good Laboratory Practices (GLP). Five-week-old rats, weighing about 99 g for the males and 92 g for the females, were divided into four 4 groups (10 rats in each group): vehicle control, low-dose (30 mg/kg), middle-dose (125 mg/kg), and high-dose (500 mg/kg). After 90 days of exposure, clinical chemistry, hematology, histopathology, and silver distribution were studied. There was a significant decrease (P 0.05) in the body weight of male rats after 4 weeks of exposure, although there were no significant changes in food or water consumption during the study period. Significant dose-dependent changes were found in alkaline phosphatase and cholesterol for the male and female ra