Abstract
Since ancient times, silver has been known for its pronounced bactericidal, antiviral and fungicidal properties. Currently, nanoparticles of this metal are widely used in the food, light and pharmaceutical industries, as well as in medicine. Silver in any form can have a toxic effect not only on pathogens, but also on healthy cells. The biological activity and bioavailability of silver preparations depend on the degree of their solubility in water. In addition, the maximum permissible concentration of soluble forms of silver is an order of magnitude lower than that of insoluble forms. This makes nanoparticles of silver with a hydrophilic coating that form stable colloidal solutions in aqueous media potentially unsafe objects. In this work, we studied the kinetics of the accumulation of silver nanoparticles with an average size of 34 ± 5 nm stabilized with polyvinylpyrrolidone in the organs of laboratory C57Bl/6 mice. The administration of nanoparticles was carried out orally for 30, 60, 120 and 180 days at the dose of 50 µg/day/animal. All the mice developed and gained weight normally during the experiment. No adverse effects were observed. Determination of the silver content in biological tissues of mammals was accomplished by neutron activation analysis. The masses and concentrations of silver in the brain and its different sections (hippocampus, cerebellum, cortex and remnants), as well as in the lungs, testes, liver, blood, kidneys, spleen and heart, were determined. The injection times at which the accumulation curves reached saturation were established. An extremely high accumulation of silver in the testes was shown at 120 days of administration, and a significant accumulation of silver in the lungs and brain was observed. The accumulation of silver in all parts of the brain except the cortex was significant, and its trend was similar to that in the whole brain.
Highlights
Since ancient times, silver has been known for its antiseptic properties
We studied the kinetics of silver accumulation in the organs of laboratory mice after long-term oral exposure to silver nanoparticles
Nanoparticle size was determined by dynamic light scattering (DLS) (Malvern Zetasizer, Malvern, UK) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA)
Summary
Silver has been known for its antiseptic properties. It was used for medicinal purposes in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Hindu Ayurvedic texts mention the disinfection of water by immersing hot silver into it or by prolonged contact with metallic silver under normal conditions [1]. Until 1800, the use of exclusively metallic silver was documented. With the turn of the 19th century, its salts and colloidal solutions, such as argyrol and protargol, began to be used. Since the beginning of the 2000 s, in relation to the development of nanotechnology, silver nanoparticles began to be actively used in food, pharmaceutical and light industries, as well as in medicine [2]
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