Silver nanoparticle induced muscle abnormalities : A sub-chronic dermal assessment in guinea pig

Document Type : Original Article

Abstract

Nanosilver has recently been recognized as an antimicrobial agent. Although this nanoparticle
can be used in medical applications but its dermal and systemic toxicity via dermal exposure has
not been completely determined yet. The aim in this study was to investigate the potential dermal
toxicity of Nanosilver in subchronic method. Before the colloidal silver nanoparticle toxicity
evaluation, their size was subjected in sizes < 100 nm by Transmission Electron Microscope
and revealed that the nanoparticles contained nanosilver by X-Ray Diffraction. The selected
animals were 24 male guinea pigs weighing 350-400 g. These animals were exposed to three
concentrations of nanosilver (100, 1000 and 10000 μg/ml) by dermal exposure. Toxic responses
were assessed based on histopathologic parameters. Significant dose-dependent histopathological
changes were observed in the muscle of treated animals. It seems that colloidal silver
nanoparticles have the ability to create dose-dependent toxic responses in this organ.

Keywords

• Nanosilver
• histopathological changes
• sub-chronic toxicity
• Dermal toxicity

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