Korea Environment & Merchandise Testing Institute, Incheon, Korea.
Part Fibre Toxicol. 2010 Aug 6;7:20. doi: 10.1186/1743-8977-7-20.
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.
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 rats, indicating that exposure to more than 125 mg/kg of silver nanoparticles may result in slight liver damage. Histopathologic examination revealed a higher incidence of bile-duct hyperplasia, with or without necrosis, fibrosis, and/or pigmentation, in treated animals. There was also a dose-dependent accumulation of silver in all tissues examined. A gender-related difference in the accumulation of silver was noted in the kidneys, with a twofold increase in female kidneys compared to male kidneys.
The target organ for the silver nanoparticles was found to be the liver in both the male and female rats. A NOAEL (no observable adverse effect level) of 30 mg/kg and LOAEL (lowest observable adverse effect level) of 125 mg/kg are suggested from the present study.
由于银纳米粒子具有抗菌作用，因此其已被广泛应用于健康、电子、消费、医药、农药和家用产品领域；然而，就其在生物和生态系统中的毒性而言，银纳米粒子仍然是一个备受争议的研究领域。
本研究根据经济合作与发展组织（OECD）测试指南 408 和良好实验室规范（GLP），对 F344 大鼠进行了为期 13 周（90 天）的口服银纳米粒子（56nm）毒性测试。将 5 周龄、体重约为 99g 的雄性大鼠和 92g 的雌性大鼠分为 4 组（每组 10 只）：对照组、低剂量（30mg/kg）组、中剂量（125mg/kg）组和高剂量（500mg/kg）组。暴露 90 天后，研究了临床化学、血液学、组织病理学和银分布情况。暴露 4 周后，雄性大鼠的体重出现显著下降（P＜0.05），但在整个研究期间，其食物和水的摄入量没有显著变化。雄性和雌性大鼠的碱性磷酸酶和胆固醇均出现显著的剂量依赖性变化，表明接触超过 125mg/kg 的银纳米粒子可能会导致轻微的肝损伤。组织病理学检查显示，处理组动物的胆管增生发生率更高，伴有或不伴有坏死、纤维化和/或色素沉着。所有检查的组织中也都存在银的剂量依赖性蓄积。在肾脏中观察到银蓄积的性别相关差异，与雄性肾脏相比，雌性肾脏中的银蓄积增加了两倍。
在雄性和雌性大鼠中，银纳米粒子的靶器官均为肝脏。本研究建议 30mg/kg 为无观察到不良作用水平（NOAEL），125mg/kg 为最低观察到不良作用水平（LOAEL）。
