Potential effects of different natural antioxidants on inflammatory damage and oxidative-mediated hepatotoxicity induced by gold nanoparticles.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to verify and confirm the oxidative-mediated hepatotoxicity, inflammatory liver damage, and oxidative stress induced by intraperitoneal administration of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) in vivo; characterize the effect of different natural antioxidants on these hazardous changes; and finally choose the most powerful antioxidant among these different natural antioxidants. METHODS: Ten-nanometer GNPs were dissolved in aqueous solution of 0.01% concentration. A dose of 50 µL of 10 nm GNPs was administered intraperitoneally for 7 days to the rats, whereas the antioxidants were orally administered for the same time period. The antioxidants used in the study were vitamin E (Vit E), α-lipoic acid (ALA), quercetin (Qur), arginine (Arg), and melanin. Forty Wistar-Kyoto male rats were used. Rats were arbitrarily divided into seven groups after acclimatization for 1 week. For serum separation, blood samples were obtained from each animal. Serum liver function markers and tissue oxidative stress and lipid proxidation biomarkers were assessed. RESULTS: The increase in the levels of gamma-glutamyl transferase, alkaline phosphatase, total protein, alanine aminotransferase, and total bilirubin in the serum of rats and the increase of malondialdehyde in the hepatic tissue and decrease in reduced glutathione when compared with the control in this study confirmed the ability of GNPs to cause hazardous effects. CONCLUSION: Treatment of rats with Vit E, ALA, Qur, Arg, and melanin along with GNPs significantly inhibited the inflammatory liver damage, lipid peroxidation, and the oxidative stress induced by GNPs in vivo, but with different responses due to their evaluated normalization values, and it has been confirmed that melanin is the most powerful antioxidant among these different natural antioxidants, ie, it has the most effective potential role against the hepatic inflammatory damage, oxidative stress, and lipid peroxidation.

Effect of melanin on gold nanoparticle-induced hepatotoxicity and lipid peroxidation in rats.

INTRODUCTION: Melanin pigments are produced by melanocytes and are believed to act as antioxidants based on the belief that melanin can suppress electronically stirred states and scavenge the free radicals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was aimed to verify and prove the toxicity induced by administration of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and to characterize the role of melanin as an antioxidant against inflammatory liver damage, oxidative stress, and lipid peroxidation induced intraperitoneally by GNPs in vivo. RESULTS: The findings from this study confirmed that administration of GNPs intraperitoneally caused liver damage in addition to producing oxidative stress and fatty acid peroxidation. The treatment of rats with melanin along with GNPs induced dramatic changes in all the measured biochemical parameters. Our data demonstrated that melanin completely inhibited inflammatory liver damage, oxidative stress, and lipid peroxidation, which was confirmed by the histological investigation of different liver sections stained by H&E. CONCLUSION: These results suggest the beneficial use of melanin together with GNPs for alleviating its toxicity. Other studies should be implemented taking into consideration the role of melanin in comparison with other natural antioxidants.

The protective role of quercetin and arginine on gold nanoparticles induced hepatotoxicity in rats.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to confirm the hepatotoxicity induced by small-sized gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and evaluate the role of quercetin (Qur) and arginine (Arg) against hepatotoxicity caused by GNPs. METHODS: Twenty-five healthy male Wistar-Kyoto rats were used. GNPs were administered intraperitoneally to these rats at the dose of 50 µL for seven consecutive days. The role of Qur and Arg antioxidants against toxicity induced by GNPs was detected through the measurement of serum liver function and oxidative stress biomarkers in the liver tissues. RESULTS: Coadministration of Qur and Arg along with GNPs significantly induced dramatic alterations in the biochemical parameters. Levels of malondialdehyde, gamma-glutamyl transferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and total protein increased significantly in the GNPs injected group than in the control group, while reduced glutathione was greatly reduced in the GNPs group than in the control group. It also significantly decreased liver enzymes and the oxidative stress, therefore improving the liver damage and hepatotoxicity induced by GNPs. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that Qur and Arg antioxidants effectively improved the hepatic oxidative damage induced by GNPs. It also substantiates the application of Qur and Arg as protecting stand-in against GNPs' hepatotoxicity.

Role of zinc oxide nanoparticles in alleviating hepatic fibrosis and nephrotoxicity induced by thioacetamide in rats.

The present research studied the influence of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs; 5, 7.5, and 10 mg/kg, i.p.) on the liver and kidney injuries motivated by thioacetamide (TAA; 100 mg/kg, i.p.). Each treatment was carried out 3 times per week for 8 weeks. ZnO-NPs relieved the decrease of hepatic or renal reduced glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) induced by TAA. Moreover, ZnO-NPs lowered tissue malondialdehyde (MDA, an indicator for lipid peroxidation). TAA treatment led to a significant increase in plasma inflammatory markers (TNF-α, IL-6), liver enzymes (gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and kidney function parameters (creatinine, urea, uric acid). However, these parameters were reduced after treatment with ZnO-NPs. In addition, the hepatic fibrosis markers, hydroxyproline level, and α-smooth muscle actin immunopositive stain were lowered by ZnO-NPs. The protective effect of ZnO-NPs in respect to biochemical changes was also confirmed by histopathological and immunohistochemistry studies in the liver and kidney sections. Our results suggested that ZnO-NPs may attenuate TAA toxicity via suppression of oxidative stress.

Ultraviolet-visible and fluorescence spectroscopy can be used as a diagnostic tool for gamma irradiation detection in vivo.

The spectroscopic properties can indicate important features about the nature and severity of the disease. However, no earlier studies have been used the spectroscopic properties as a diagnostic tool for radiation detection. This study was aimed to use ultraviolet-visible and fluorescence spectroscopy as a diagnostic tool for gamma irradiation detection in rats in vivo. Adult male rats were exposed to 25, 50, 75 and 100 Gray as single dose, using Cobalt-60 (Co-60) source with a dose rate of 0.883 centi Gray/sec (cGy/s). Ultraviolet and fluorescence spectroscopy of rat's blood serum were measured. After gamma irradiation of rats in vivo, the blood serum absorbance peaks for 25, 50, 75 and 100 Gray (Gy) decreased and shifted towards the ultra violet wavelength. A maximal change in fluorescence intensity of blood serum at 350 nm was obtained when exciting light at 194 nm after irradiation. The fluorescence intensity also decreased with the dose. The highest radiation gamma dose might be accompanied with the highest oxidative stress. This study suggests that at the above mentioned gamma radiation doses, the blood is highly fragmented; with low aggregation at 25 Gy and with high aggregation at 50-100 Gy.

Ultraviolet-visible and fluorescence spectroscopy techniques are important diagnostic tools during the progression of atherosclerosis: diet zinc supplementation retarded or delayed atherosclerosis.

BACKGROUND: In this study, we examined whether UV-visible and fluorescence spectroscopy techniques detect the progression of atherosclerosis in serum of rabbits fed on high-cholesterol diet (HCD) and HCD supplemented with zinc (HCD + Zn) compared with the control. METHODS: The control rabbits group was fed on 100 g/day of normal diet. The HCD group was fed on Purina Certified Rabbit Chow supplemented with 1.0% cholesterol plus 1.0% olive oil (100 g/day) for the same period. The HCD + Zn group was fed on normal Purina Certified Rabbit Chow plus 1.0% cholesterol and 1.0% olive oil supplemented with 470 ppm Zn for the same feeding period. UV-visible and fluorescence spectroscopy and biochemistry in Rabbit's blood serum and blood hematology were measured in Rabbit's blood. RESULTS: We found that the fluorescent peak of HCD shifted toward UV-visible wavelength compared with the control using fluorescent excitation of serum at 192 nm. In addition, they showed that supplementation of zinc (350 ppm) restored the fluorescent peak closely to the control. By using UV-visible spectroscopy approach, we found that the peak absorbance of HCD (about 280 nm) was higher than that of control and that zinc supplementation seemed to decrease the absorbance. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that ultraviolet-visible and fluorescence spectroscopy techniques can be applied as noninvasive techniques on a sample blood serum for diagnosing or detecting the progression of atherosclerosis. The Zn supplementation to rabbits fed on HCD delays or retards the progression of atherosclerosis. Inducing anemia in rabbits fed on HCD delays the progression of atherosclerosis.