Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Part Fibre Toxicol. 2013 Jan 10;10:1. doi: 10.1186/1743-8977-10-1.
The deposition, clearance and translocation of europium-doped gadolinium oxide nanoparticles in a mouse lung were investigated experimentally. Nanoparticles were synthesized by spray flame pyrolysis. The particle size, crystallinity and surface properties were characterized. Following instillation, the concentrations of particles in organs were determined with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The protein corona coating the nanoparticles was found to be similar to the coating on more environmentally relevant nanoparticles such as iron oxide. Measurements of the solubility of the nanoparticles in surrogates of biological fluids indicated very little propensity for dissolution, and the elemental ratio of particle constituents did not change, adding further support to the contention that intact nanoparticles were measured. The particles were intratracheally instilled into the mouse lung. After 24 hours, the target organs were harvested, acid digested and the nanoparticle mass in each organ was measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The nanoparticles were detected in all the studied organs at low ppb levels; 59% of the particles remained in the lung. A significant amount of particles was also detected in the feces, suggesting fast clearance mechanisms. The nanoparticle system used in this work is highly suitable for quantitatively determining deposition, transport and clearance of nanoparticles from the lung, providing a quantified measure of delivered dose.
实验研究了掺铕氧化钆纳米粒子在小鼠肺部的沉积、清除和迁移。通过喷雾火焰热解合成了纳米粒子。对其粒径、结晶度和表面特性进行了表征。在滴注后，通过电感耦合等离子体质谱法（ICP-MS）测定了器官中粒子的浓度。发现纳米粒子表面的蛋白质冠与更具环境相关性的纳米粒子（如氧化铁）的涂层相似。对纳米粒子在生物流体替代物中的溶解度的测量表明其溶解倾向很小，并且粒子成分的元素比例没有变化，这进一步支持了所测量的是完整纳米粒子的说法。将这些粒子通过气管内滴注到小鼠肺部。24 小时后，采集目标器官，进行酸消解，并通过电感耦合等离子体质谱法（ICP-MS）测量每个器官中的纳米颗粒质量。在所有研究的器官中都以低 ppb 水平检测到纳米粒子；59%的粒子仍留在肺部。大量的粒子也在粪便中被检测到，这表明有快速的清除机制。本研究中使用的纳米粒子系统非常适合定量测定从肺部沉积、转运和清除纳米粒子，提供了定量的给药剂量。
