Abstract
Oxidative stress (OS) plays an important role in the pathology of certain human diseases. Scientists have developed great interest regarding the determination of oxidative stress caused after the administration of nano-graphene composites (PEG-nGO). Graphene oxide sheets (GOS) were synthesized via a modified Hummer's method and were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The method of Zhang was adopted for cracking of GOS. Then nano-graphene oxide was PEGylated with polyethylene glycol (PEG). PEGylation of nGO was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV spectroscopy and TEM. The average size distribution of nGO and PEG-nGO was determined by using dynamic light scattering (DLS). Subsequently, an in vivo study measuring a marker for oxidative stress, namely lipid peroxides, as well as antioxidant agents, including catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione, and glutathione S-transferase was conducted. A comparison at different intervals of time after the administration of a dose (5 mg/kg) of PEG-nGO was carried out. An increase in free radicals and a decrease in free radical scavenging enzymes in organs were observed. Our results indicated that the treatment with PEG-nGO caused an increased OS to the organs in the first few hours of treatment. However, the liver completely recovered from the OS after 4 h. Brain, heart and kidneys showed an increased OS even after 4 h. In conclusion increased OS induced by PEG-nGO could be detrimental to brain, heart and kidneys.
Highlights
The recent progress in nanoscience and nanotechnology that has facilitated the synthesis of advanced nanomaterials has led to the development of effective drug delivery systems [1,2]
Our research aims to determine the oxidative stress induced through the administration of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-nanographene oxide (nGO) and systematically evaluate its effect on organs for up to 4 h
The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of graphene oxide shows a peak at 2θ = 9.9° (d-spacing of 8.9 Å), the (100) diffraction peak at 2θ = 42.0° according to a d-spacing of 2.13 Å, confirming the successful Graphene oxide (GO) synthesis [42]
Summary
The recent progress in nanoscience and nanotechnology that has facilitated the synthesis of advanced nanomaterials has led to the development of effective drug delivery systems [1,2]. The hydrophobic nature of graphene restricts its use for biomedical applications. Scientists have overcome this challenge through the ox-. Graphene oxide (GO), due to its hydrophilic nature, can host a large number of biocompatible polymers, such as chitosan [4], polyethylene glycol (PEG) [5], poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) [6], hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPCD) [7], and poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) [8]. Biocompatible GO has many prospective uses in tissue engineering [9], drug delivery [10], cancer therapy [11,12], and treatment of bacterial infections [13,14]. Feng et al used PEG and PEI dual-functionalized GO for the photothermal enhancement of gene delivery [23]. Functionalized PEG-GO has been used as a nano-carrier of photosensitizers and synergistic anticancer agents [27]
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