Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Asahi 3-1-1,Matsumoto, Nagano 390-8621, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2012;2:498. doi: 10.1038/srep00498. Epub 2012 Jul 9.
The application of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as biomaterials is of wide interest, and studies examining their application in medicine have had considerable significance. Biological safety is the most important factor when considering the clinical application of CNTs as biomaterials, and various toxicity evaluations are required. Among these evaluations, carcinogenicity should be examined with the highest priority; however, no report using transgenic mice to evaluate the carcinogenicity of CNTs has been published to date. Here, we performed a carcinogenicity test by implanting multi-walled CNTs (MWCNTs) into the subcutaneous tissue of rasH2 mice, using the carbon black present in black tattoo ink as a reference material for safety. The rasH2 mice did not develop neoplasms after being injected with MWCNTs; instead, MWCNTs showed lower carcinogenicity than carbon black. Such evaluations should facilitate the clinical application and development of CNTs for use in important medical fields.
碳纳米管(CNTs)作为生物材料的应用引起了广泛关注,研究其在医学中的应用具有重要意义。当考虑将 CNTs 作为生物材料应用于临床时,生物安全性是最重要的因素,需要进行各种毒性评估。在这些评估中,应优先考虑致癌性;然而,迄今为止,尚无使用转基因小鼠评估 CNTs 致癌性的报告。在这里,我们使用纹身墨水中的炭黑作为安全参考材料,通过将多壁碳纳米管(MWCNTs)植入 rasH2 小鼠的皮下组织来进行致癌性测试。在注射 MWCNTs 后,rasH2 小鼠并未发展出肿瘤,相反,MWCNTs 的致癌性低于炭黑。这样的评估将有助于 CNTs 在重要医学领域的临床应用和开发。