Medical Physics Program, Physics Department, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Teaching assistant, Faculty of Applied Medical Science, Hail University, Hail, Saudi Arabia.
Life Sci. 2021 Jul 15;277:119625. doi: 10.1016/j.lfs.2021.119625. Epub 2021 May 17.
Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) have been widely used in diagnosis, drug delivery, and therapy. However, the biodistribution and toxicity profile of IONPs remain debatable and incomplete, thus limiting their further use. We predict that coating iron oxide nanoparticles using curcumin (Cur-IONPs) will provide an advantage for their safety profile.
In this study, an evaluation of the multidose effect (6 doses of 5 mg/kg Cur-IONPs to male BALB/c mice, on alternating days for two weeks) on the toxicity and biodistribution of Cur-IONPs was conducted.
Serum biochemical analysis demonstrated no significant difference in enzyme levels in the liver and kidney between the Cur-IONP-treated and control groups. Blood glucose level measurements showed a nonsignificant change between groups. However, the serum iron concentration was found to initially increase significantly but then decreased at 10 days after the final injection. Histopathological examination of the liver, spleen, kidneys, and brain showed no abnormalities or differences between the Cur-IONP-treated and control groups. There were no abnormal changes in mouse body weight. The biodistribution results showed that Cur-IONPs accumulated mainly in the liver, spleen, and brain, while almost no Cur-IONPs were found in the kidney. The iron content in the liver remained high even 10 days after the final injection, while the iron content in the spleen and brain had returned to normal levels by this time point, indicating their complete clearance.
These results are significant and promising for the further application of Cur-IONPs as theragnostic nanoparticles.
氧化铁纳米粒子（IONPs）已被广泛应用于诊断、药物输送和治疗。然而，IONPs 的生物分布和毒性特征仍存在争议和不完整，因此限制了其进一步的应用。我们预测，使用姜黄素（Cur-IONPs）对氧化铁纳米粒子进行涂层将为其安全性提供优势。
在这项研究中，评估了 Cur-IONPs 的多剂量效应（6 次剂量为 5mg/kg Cur-IONPs，雄性 BALB/c 小鼠，每隔一天一次，持续两周）对其毒性和生物分布的影响。
血清生化分析显示，Cur-IONP 处理组和对照组的肝、肾功能酶水平无显著差异。血糖水平测量显示两组之间无显著变化。然而，血清铁浓度最初显著增加，但在最后一次注射后 10 天下降。肝脏、脾脏、肾脏和大脑的组织病理学检查显示 Cur-IONP 处理组和对照组之间没有异常或差异。小鼠体重无异常变化。生物分布结果表明，Cur-IONPs 主要在肝脏、脾脏和大脑中积累，而肾脏中几乎没有 Cur-IONPs。即使在最后一次注射后 10 天，肝脏中的铁含量仍然很高，而脾脏和大脑中的铁含量此时已恢复正常水平，表明它们已完全清除。
这些结果对于进一步应用 Cur-IONPs 作为治疗诊断纳米粒子具有重要意义和前景。
