Investigation of Biomarkers in Sub-Acute Hepatorenal Toxicity against Bulk and Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Exposed Mice

Abstract

Zinc oxide nanoparticles have been utilized and produced at a very large scale due to their wide range of applications. Nevertheless, its toxicity is one of the concerns addressed by various researchers. Widely used methods of measuring plasma zinc have poor sensitivity and impaired specificity. Currently, there is no specific biomarker for determination of excess zinc inside our body is explored well. Furthermore, it is vital to know the toxic effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles and their bulk counterparts at early exposure level on human health due to day to day increased use of zinc oxide nanoparticles in various applications. In current study we investigate the kidney and liver as the primary target organs for toxicity and their oxidative stress parameters. Twenty-four male mice were divided into three groups(n=8). Control (group I) served as vehicle control; group II:50mg/kg ZnO (bulk) and group III:ZnO NPs (50mg/kg nano). The mice were sacrificed after 14 days exposure, liver and kidney tissue toxicity biomarkers were performed. Our results demonstrate increased levels of GPx, metallothionein, GST, and decrease level of ceruloplasmin, GSH:GSSG ratio in bulk ZnO administered animals. The acute kidney toxicity was further confirmed by increased levels of their biomarkers i.e. Kim-1 and Clusterin. The levels of serum cytokines and caspase were also analyzed. Hence, this study investigated the comparative effect of early exposure of zinc oxide nanoparticles (nZnO) and its bulk form and we conclude that at 50mg/kg b.wt dose, ZnO NPs is comparatively safe to bulk ZnO.