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Abstract
The production and use of nanomaterials, which continue to grow, have given rise to many concerns and debates among public, scientific and regulatory authorities regarding their fate in biological systems. The aim of the present study was to investigate the hepato- and nephro- toxic potential of gold nanoparticles (20 nm) on Sprague{u2013}Dawley rats. Adult female rats were divided into three equal groups of 20 animals each. group I: (Control group), animals were injected i.p with physiological saline (0.9 % NaCl) daily for 7 days; the other two groups were treated with 19.7 & 39.4 æg AuNPs/kg.b.wt of 20 nm sized AuNPs daily for 7 days, respectively. The liver and kidney functions were assessed in addition to oxidative stress and genotoxicity parameters. Moreover histopathological examination was carried out at four different time points (after 1, 3, 5 and 7 days from start of experiment). The results revealed that AuNPs exposure at 39.4 æg/kg.b.wt significantly enhanced hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity by increasing serum ALT, ALP activity; urea, creatinine and tissue MDA levels and significantly reduced hepatic and renal tissue GSH content and CAT activity (P{u2264}0.05). COMET assay of hepatic and renal tissues showed that AuNPs exposure significantly decreased the intact cells %, head diameter, and head DNA % in the double therapeutic dose of AuNPs-treated group compared to the control and therapeutic dose of AuNPs-treated groups. The hepato- and nephro- toxic effect of AuNPs was also confirmed by the observed liver and kidney histopathological alterations especially at the high dose. We can conclude that AuNPs had severe hepato and nephro-toxic effects in rats when given at the high (double therapeutic) dose