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
. 2018 Aug 21;8(9):634.
doi: 10.3390/nano8090634.

Health Concerns of Various Nanoparticles: A Review of Their in Vitro and in Vivo Toxicity

Marziyeh Ajdary  1 , Mohammad Amin Moosavi  2 , Marveh Rahmati  3 , Mojtaba Falahati  4 , Mohammad Mahboubi  5 , Ali Mandegary  6   7 , Saranaz Jangjoo  8 , Reza Mohammadinejad  9 , Rajender S Varma  10
Affiliations
Review

Health Concerns of Various Nanoparticles: A Review of Their in Vitro and in Vivo Toxicity

Marziyeh Ajdary et al. Nanomaterials (Basel). .

Abstract

Nanoparticles (NPs) are currently used in diagnosis and treatment of many human diseases, including autoimmune diseases and cancer. However, cytotoxic effects of NPs on normal cells and living organs is a severe limiting factor that hinders their use in clinic. In addition, diversity of NPs and their physico-chemical properties, including particle size, shape, surface area, dispersity and protein corona effects are considered as key factors that have a crucial impact on their safe or toxicological behaviors. Current studies on toxic effects of NPs are aimed to identify the targets and mechanisms of their side effects, with a focus on elucidating the patterns of NP transport, accumulation, degradation, and elimination, in both in vitro and in vitro models. NPs can enter the body through inhalation, skin and digestive routes. Consequently, there is a need for reliable information about effects of NPs on various organs in order to reveal their efficacy and impact on health. This review covers the existing knowledge base on the subject that hopefully prepares us better to address these challenges.

Keywords: nanoparticles; organ-specific effects; toxicological effects.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Nanotechnology transformative innovations in medicine, agriculture, industry, environment, and basic biological sciences.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The main routes of nanoparticles (NP) entry into the cells and their subsequent intracellular mechanism(s) [24].
Figure 3
Figure 3
The most common mechanisms underlying NP cytotoxicity.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Schematic illustrating single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs)-induced interactions with tau protein structure, resulting in pronounced conformational changes and corresponding denaturation compared to multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) [40].
Figure 5
Figure 5
Toxic effects of diverse types of nanoparticles on various organs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Cheng R., Feng F., Meng F., Deng C., Feijen J., Zhong Z. Glutathione-responsive nano-vehicles as a promising platform for targeted intracellular drug and gene delivery. J. Control. Release. 2011;152:2–12. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2011.01.030. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sajid M., Ilyas M., Basheer C., Tariq M., Daud M., Baig N., Shehzad F. Impact of nanoparticles on human and environment: Review of toxicity factors, exposures, control strategies, and future prospects. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 2015;22:4122–4143. doi: 10.1007/s11356-014-3994-1. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dwivedi A.D., Dubey S.P., Sillanpää M., Kwon Y.-N., Lee C., Varma R.S. Fate of engineered nanoparticles: Implications in the environment. Coord. Chem. Rev. 2015;287:64–78. doi: 10.1016/j.ccr.2014.12.014. - DOI
    1. Ajdari M., Ghahnavieh M.Z. Histopathology effects of nickel nanoparticles on lungs, liver, and spleen tissues in male mice. Int. Nano Lett. 2014;4:113. doi: 10.1007/s40089-014-0113-8. - DOI
    1. Negahdary M., Ajdary M. The toxicity of gold, silver, and zinc oxide nanoparticles on LDH enzyme in male mice. Annu. Res. Rev. Biol. 2014;4:1346–1352. doi: 10.9734/ARRB/2014/5370. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources