| Journal: |
Biological Trace Element Research
Springer Nature
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Volume: |
202(12):5637-5652
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| Abstract: |
Abstract
Recently, gold nanoparticles (Au Nps) have gained tremendous attention for its unique properties as a safe nanocarrier for
delivering drugs that are used in different disease diagnoses. Although silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) have been generally
applied due to their strong antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and antimicrobial properties, their toxicity is a subject of
sustained debate, thus requiring further studies. The present study aims to evaluate the potential protective effect of gold
nanoparticles and phthalocyanine-gold nanoconjugates (Pc-Au NCs) against the hepatorenal toxicity of silver nanoparticles
in male rats. Herein, 60 adult male Rattus norvegicus rats were divided into six equal groups (n = 10/group); the first group
was kept as control, the second received gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) intraperitoneally (10 μg/kg) daily for 3 weeks, the
third group is gold-phthalocyanine (Pc-Au) group where rats were injected intraperitoneally with gold-phthalocyanine for
3 weeks (10 μg/kg), the fourth group received silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) (4 mg/kg) daily intraperitoneally for 3 weeks,
the fifth group is silver + gold nanoparticles group (Ag + Au), and the sixth is silver + gold-phthalocyanine nanoconjugates
(Ag + Pc-Au) group in which rats were intraperitoneally injected firstly with Ag NPs (4 mg/kg) for 3 weeks then with gold or
gold-phthalocyanine for another 3 weeks (10 μg/kg). Our results revealed that Ag NPs could increase the serum AST, ALT,
ALP, urea, creatinine, and lipid profile and significantly decreased the total protein and albumin. Moreover, histopathological
alterations detected in the kidney and the liver of the Ag NPs group included vascular congestion, inflammatory cell
infiltration, and tissue distortion. Alongside, exposure to Ag NPs induces hepatic and renal oxidative stress by suppressing
the antioxidant-related genes including glutathione peroxidase 1 (gpx1), superoxide dismutase (sod), and catalase (cat). Ag
NPs also upregulated the hepatic and renal genes involved in inflammation such as the interleukin-6 (il-6) and tumor necrosis
factor-α (tnf-α), nuclear factor kappa B (nf-κβ), apoptosis such as the BCL2 associated X (bax), casp3, and other related to
metabolism including asparagine synthetase (asns), suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (socs3), MYC proto-oncogene (myc),
and C–C motif chemokine ligand 2 (ccl2). On the other hand, treatment with Au NPs and Pc-Au NCs could effectively ameliorate
the hepatorenal damages induced by Ag NPs and improve liver and kidney architecture and function, especially in the
Pc-Au NCs group. Briefly, our study revealed the underlined mechanism of Ag NPs hepatotoxic and nephrotoxic effects and
that Pc-Au NCs could alleviate these adverse impacts via their anti-oxidative, anti-apoptotic, and anti-inflammatory activities.
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