Acute toxicity and pharmacokinetics of 13 nm-sized PEG-coated gold nanoparticles
- Division of Toxicologic Pathology, Department of Toxicological Research, National Institute of Toxicological Research, Korea Food and Drug Administration, 231 Jinhoungno Eunpyung-ku, Seoul 122-704 (Korea, Republic of)
- Nanobiotechnology, BioNanotechnology Research Center, School of Engineering, Korea University of Science and Technology, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon 305-806 (Korea, Republic of)
- Division of Safety Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacological Research, National Institute of Toxicological Research, Korea Food and Drug Administration, 231 Jinhoungno Eunpyung-ku, Seoul 122-704 (Korea, Republic of)
In general, gold nanoparticles are recognized as being as nontoxic. Still, there have been some reports on their toxicity, which has been shown to depend on the physical dimension, surface chemistry, and shape of the nanoparticles. In this study, we carry out an in vivo toxicity study using 13 nm-sized gold nanoparticles coated with PEG (MW 5000). In our findings the 13 nm sized PEG-coated gold nanoparticles were seen to induce acute inflammation and apoptosis in the liver. These nanoparticles were found to accumulate in the liver and spleen for up to 7 days after injection and to have long blood circulation times. In addition, transmission electron microscopy showed that numerous cytoplasmic vesicles and lysosomes of liver Kupffer cells and spleen macrophages contained the PEG-coated gold nanoparticles. These findings of toxicity and kinetics of PEG-coated gold nanoparticles may have important clinical implications regarding the safety issue as PEG-coated gold nanoparticles are widely used in biomedical applications.
- OSTI ID:
- 21182764
- Journal Information:
- Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, Vol. 236, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.taap.2008.12.023; PII: S0041-008X(08)00532-2; Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0041-008X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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