In Vivo Genotoxic Assessment Of Silver Nanoparticles In Liver Cells Of Swiss Albino Mice Using Comet Assay

¹Department of Zoology, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur 302004, India

²Department of Physics, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur 302017, India

Adv. Mater. Lett., 2015, 6 (3), pp 187-193

DOI: 10.5185/amlett.2015.5640

Publication Date (Web): Feb 22, 2015

Copyright © IAAM-VBRI Press

E-mail: kkantawasthi@gmail.com, plachenljohn@yahoo.com

Abstract

Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) has resulted their incorporation into consumer products due to their extensive application in health, electronic, and household products. In particular, the oral toxicity of Ag NPs is of particular concern to ensure public health. For the present study, a genotoxic and cytotoxic approach was employed to elucidate the activity of 5 nm size and spherical shaped Ag NPs in liver cells of Swiss albino mice by using alkaline comet assay. Statistically significant DNA damage raise the concern about the safety associated with the applications of the Ag NPs. The result showed that Ag NPs induced a significant concentration dependent increase in the frequency of tailed nuclei (DNA damage), tail moment, %DNA in the tail, and tail length in the liver cells. Additionally significant histopathological alterations were also observed. The results of present study suggest that exposure to silver nanoparticles has the potential to cause genetic damage.

Keywords

Silver nanoparticles, DNA damage, liver function, comet assay, histopathology.