Reproductive toxicity of iron oxide nanoparticles, silver nanoparticles and their mixture in male rats: Effects on testicular gene expression

Abstract

Iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe2O3NPs) have shown wide biological applications in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), drug delivery, gene therapy, cancer treatments, in vitro diagnostics (IVD), and vaccine and antibody production. Although Fe2O3NPs have a variety of applications, few studies have demonstrated that exposure to Fe2O3NPs may lead to adverse effects, such as reproductive toxicity. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are widely used in products across industries; they are often used for their antimicrobial activity in medicine and are also often found in detergents. Few studies have demonstrated that exposure to AgNPs may lead to adverse effects, such as reproductive toxicity. There is no enough results on the reproductive toxicity induced by Fe2O3NPs and AgNPs, especially in combination. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the reproductive toxicity of iron oxide nanoparticles, silver nanoparticles and their combination in male rats. In the present study Wistar male rats were used. Animals were divided into 4 equal groups, 10 rats each. Group 1 served as control, group 2 was administered orally with Fe2O3NPs (5 mg/kg BW; >50 nm), group 3 was treated intraperitoneally with AgNPs (50 mg/kg BW; >100 nm) and group 4 was administered with the mixture of Fe2O3NPs with AgNPs. Animals were treated with doses every day for 79 days. Treatment with Fe2O3NPs, AgNPs and their combination caused significant (P < 0.05) changed in gene expression of mitochondrial transcription factor-A (mtTFA) and uncoupling protein 2 (UCP 2) in testes compared to control group.