The impact of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) on the kidney structure of male albino mice

Abstract

According to the distinctive physical and chemical properties, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) are widely used in a multitude of applications such as medical diagnosis, preparation of pharmaceutical products anti-sunshine, deliver drugs to target parts in the body and cosmetics. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of ZnO-NPs on the kidney structure of male albino mice by using intra-peritoneal injection. Animals were injected with 0.1 ml of 150 mg kg-1 of ZnO-NPs (25-45 nm size) for a period of 7 and 14 days. The results showed a decrease in the average body weights of animals after 14 days of injection with ZnO-NPs when compared with control group (p ≤ 0.05), while, the period of seven days did not caused any alteration in the mice average body weights. A decrease was recorded in the diameter of renal glomerular after 14 days of injection with 150 mg/kg ZnO-NPs, and an increase was recorded in the space of Bowmann’s capsule after 7 and 14 days of injection with 150 mg kg-1 ZnO-NPs compared with the control animals (P ≤ 0.05). The diameter of proximal and distal tubules showed statistically significant increase (P ≤ 0.05) after injection with 150 mg kg-1 ZnO-NPs for 7 and 14 days compared with control groups. The histological examination revealed injuries in the kidney structure after 7 and 14 days of exposure to ZnO-NPs which were involved accumulation of inflammatory cells close to the blood vessel, sloughing and degeneration of lining epithelium in renal tubule, necrosis, foci of nucleus hypertrophy, congestion of blood vessels, lose and atrophy of glomerulus, intratubular calcium deposition and shrinkage of glomerulus. However, the histopathological changes in the kidney after 14 days of injection were more severe than at day 7. We conclude that ZnO-NPs could have serious kidney structure and functional toxicological impacts.