Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2011;12(9):6267-80.
doi: 10.3390/ijms12096267. Epub 2011 Sep 23.

Nanoparticles and neurotoxicity

Tin-Tin Win-Shwe  1 , Hidekazu Fujimaki
Affiliations
Review

Nanoparticles and neurotoxicity

Tin-Tin Win-Shwe et al. Int J Mol Sci. 2011.

Abstract

Humans are exposed to nanoparticles (NPs; diameter < 100 nm) from ambient air and certain workplaces. There are two main types of NPs; combustion-derived NPs (e.g., particulate matters, diesel exhaust particles, welding fumes) and manufactured or engineered NPs (e.g., titanium dioxide, carbon black, carbon nanotubes, silver, zinc oxide, copper oxide). Recently, there have been increasing reports indicating that inhaled NPs can reach the brain and may be associated with neurodegeneration. It is necessary to evaluate the potential toxic effects of NPs on brain because most of the neurobehavioral disorders may be of environmental origin. This review highlights studies on both combustion-derived NP- and manufactured or engineered NP-induced neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and gene expression, as well as the possible mechanism of these effects in animal models and in humans.

Keywords: brain; nanoparticles; neuroinflammation; neurotoxicity; oxidative stress.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Potential pathways of nanoparticles-induced neurotoxicity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Oberdörster G, Oberdörster E, Oberdörster J. Nanotoxicology: An emerging discipline evolving from studies of ultrafine particles. Environ Health Perspect. 2005;113:823–839. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dockery DW, Pope CA, III, Xu X, Spengler JD, Ware JH, Fay ME, Ferris BG, Jr, Speizer FE. An association between air pollution and mortality in six US cities. N Engl J Med. 1993;329:1753–1759. - PubMed
    1. Pope CA, III, Burnett RT, Thun MJ, Calle EE, Krewski D, Ito K, Thurston GD. Lung cancer, cardiopulmonary mortality, and long-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution. JAMA. 2002;287:1132–1141. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Peters A, Döring A, Wichmann HE, Koenig W. Increased plasma viscosity during an air pollution episode: A link to mortality? Lancet. 1997;349:1582–1587. - PubMed
    1. Penttinen P, Timonen KL, Tittanen P, Mirme A, Ruuskanen J, Pekkanen J. Ultrafine particles in urban air and respiratory health among adult asthmatics. Euro Respir J. 2001;17:428–435. - PubMed

Publication types