Institute for Occupational Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
Arh Hig Rada Toksikol. 2012 Jun 1;63(2):133-45. doi: 10.2478/10004-1254-63-2012-2213.
With increasing production and application of a variety of nanomaterials (NMs), research on their cytotoxic and genotoxic potential grows, as the exposure to these nano-sized materials may potentially result in adverse health effects. In large part, indications for potential DNA damaging effects of nanoparticles (NPs) originate from inconsistent in vitro studies. To clarify these effects, the implementation of in vivo studies has been emphasised. This paper summarises study results of genotoxic effects of NPs, which are available in the recent literature. They provide indications that some NP types cause both DNA strand breaks and chromosomal damages in experimental animals. Their genotoxic effects, however, do not depend only on particle size, surface modification (particle coating), and exposure route, but also on exposure duration. Currently available animal studies may suggest differing mechanisms (depending on the duration of exposure) by which living organisms react to NP contact. Nevertheless, due to considerable inconsistencies in the recent literature and the lack of standardised test methods - a reliable hazard assessment of NMs is still limited. Therefore, international organisations (e.g. NIOSH) suggest utmost caution when potential exposure of humans to NMs occurs, as long as evidence of their toxicological and genotoxic effect(s) is limited.
随着各种纳米材料（NMs）的生产和应用不断增加，对其细胞毒性和遗传毒性潜力的研究也在不断增加，因为接触这些纳米尺寸的材料可能会对健康产生不利影响。在很大程度上，纳米颗粒（NPs）潜在的 DNA 损伤作用的迹象来源于不一致的体外研究。为了澄清这些影响，强调了进行体内研究的必要性。本文总结了近期文献中关于 NPs 遗传毒性效应的研究结果。这些结果表明，一些 NP 类型会在实验动物中引起 DNA 链断裂和染色体损伤。然而，它们的遗传毒性效应不仅取决于颗粒大小、表面修饰（颗粒涂层）和暴露途径，还取决于暴露时间。目前的动物研究可能表明，生物体对 NP 接触的反应存在不同的机制（取决于暴露时间）。然而，由于近期文献中存在相当大的不一致性，以及缺乏标准化的测试方法，对 NMs 的可靠危害评估仍然受到限制。因此，国际组织（如 NIOSH）建议，只要对 NM 的毒理学和遗传毒性效应的证据有限，就应在人类可能接触 NM 时保持最大的谨慎。
