Athinarayanan Jegan, Periasamy Vaiyapuri Subbarayan, Alsaif Mohammed A, Al-Warthan Abdulrahman A, Alshatwi Ali A
Nanobiotechnology and Molecular Biology Research Lab, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Food Science and Agriculture, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh, 11451, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Cell Biol Toxicol. 2014 Apr;30(2):89-100. doi: 10.1007/s10565-014-9271-8. Epub 2014 Feb 14.
Silica (E551) is commonly used as an anti-caking agent in food products. The morphology and the dimension of the added silica particles are not, however, usually stated on the food product label. The food industry has adapted nanotechnology using engineered nanoparticles to improve the quality of their products. However, there has been increased debate regarding the health and safety concerns related to the use of engineered nanoparticles in consumer products. In this study, we investigated the morphology and dimensions of silica (E551) particles in food. The silica content of commercial food products was determined using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. The result indicates that 2.74-14. 45 μg/g silica was found in commercial food products; however, the daily dietary intake in increase causes adverse effects on human health. E551 was isolated from food products and the morphology, particle size, crystalline nature, and purity of the silica particles were analyzed using XRD, FTIR, TEM, EDX and DLS. The results of these analyses confirmed the presence of spherical silica nanoparticles (of amorphous nature) in food, approximately 10-50 nm in size. The effects of E551 on human lung fibroblast cell viability, intracellular ROS levels, cell cycle phase, and the expression levels of metabolic stress-responsive genes (CAT, GSTA4, TNF, CYP1A, POR, SOD1, GSTM3, GPX1, and GSR1) were studied. The results suggest that E551 induces a dose-dependent cytotoxicity and changes in ROS levels and alters the gene expression and cell cycle. Treatment with a high concentration of E551 caused significant cytotoxic effects on WI-38 cells. These findings have implications for the use of these nanoparticles in the food industry.
二氧化硅（E551）通常用作食品中的抗结剂。然而，食品标签上通常不会标明添加的二氧化硅颗粒的形态和尺寸。食品工业采用纳米技术，利用工程纳米颗粒来提高产品质量。然而，关于在消费品中使用工程纳米颗粒所涉及的健康和安全问题，争议日益增加。在本研究中，我们调查了食品中二氧化硅（E551）颗粒的形态和尺寸。使用电感耦合等离子体发射光谱法测定了商业食品中的二氧化硅含量。结果表明，商业食品中二氧化硅含量为2.74 - 14.45μg/g；然而，每日膳食摄入量的增加会对人体健康产生不利影响。从食品中分离出E551，并使用XRD、FTIR、TEM、EDX和DLS分析了二氧化硅颗粒的形态、粒径、晶体性质和纯度。这些分析结果证实了食品中存在球形二氧化硅纳米颗粒（无定形性质），尺寸约为10 - 50nm。研究了E551对人肺成纤维细胞活力、细胞内ROS水平、细胞周期阶段以及代谢应激反应基因（CAT、GSTA4、TNF、CYP1A、POR、SOD1、GSTM3、GPX1和GSR1）表达水平的影响。结果表明，E551诱导剂量依赖性细胞毒性，改变ROS水平，改变基因表达和细胞周期。高浓度E551处理对WI - 38细胞产生显著的细胞毒性作用。这些发现对这些纳米颗粒在食品工业中的应用具有启示意义。
