Department of Zoology, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, 302004, India.
Department of Life Sciences, Vivekananda Global University, Jaipur, 303012, India.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2021 Sep;28(34):46367-46376. doi: 10.1007/s11356-020-09953-0. Epub 2020 Jul 6.
Graphene oxide (GO) has a multitude of applications in areas of nanomedicine, electronics, textile, water purification, and catalysis among others. GO is relatively easier to manufacture and customize as compared with other carbon-based nanomaterials. In the present work, GO was administered intraperitoneally to adult Wistar rats in four incremental doses, i.e., 0.0 mg/kg (control), 0.4 mg/kg (low dose), 2.0 mg/kg (mid-dose), and 10.0 mg/kg (high dose). After 15 repeated doses over a period of 30 days, biochemical assays for alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), catalase (CAT), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were carried out. Histopathological and morphometric analyses of liver and kidney were also performed. Results demonstrated dose-dependent toxicity of GO. General behavior and liver indices remained unaffected in the study. Serum levels of ALT, ALP, and AST were altered significantly in high-dose treated animals. Changes were found insignificant in the low- and mid-dose groups. Catalase activity in liver tissue homogenates was decreased in the high-dose group. MDA levels were found elevated in treated rats. Unlike control and low dose, mid- and high-dose treated rats exhibited varying degrees of histopathological changes like inflammation around the central vein and portal veins, vacuolations, hepatocytic injury, and near normal to abnormal hepatic sinusoids. These findings show that GO has considerable toxic potential to mammalian liver and thorough toxicity studies are needed before these nanosheets are used in biomedicine.
氧化石墨烯（GO）在纳米医学、电子、纺织、水净化和催化等领域有广泛的应用。与其他碳基纳米材料相比，GO 更容易制造和定制。在本工作中，将 GO 通过腹腔注射给予成年 Wistar 大鼠，共 4 个递增剂量，即 0.0mg/kg（对照）、0.4mg/kg（低剂量）、2.0mg/kg（中剂量）和 10.0mg/kg（高剂量）。在 30 天内重复 15 次后，进行丙氨酸转氨酶（ALT）、天冬氨酸转氨酶（AST）、碱性磷酸酶（ALP）、过氧化氢酶（CAT）和丙二醛（MDA）的生化测定。还进行了肝和肾的组织病理学和形态计量学分析。结果表明 GO 具有剂量依赖性毒性。研究中，一般行为和肝指数不受影响。高剂量处理动物的血清 ALT、ALP 和 AST 水平显著改变。低剂量和中剂量组的变化不显著。肝组织匀浆中的 CAT 活性在高剂量组中降低。MDA 水平在处理大鼠中升高。与对照组和低剂量组不同，中剂量和高剂量组的大鼠表现出不同程度的组织病理学变化，如中央静脉和门静脉周围炎症、空泡化、肝细胞损伤和正常至异常肝窦。这些发现表明 GO 对哺乳动物肝脏有相当大的毒性潜力，在将这些纳米片用于生物医学之前，需要进行彻底的毒性研究。
