Abstract
Recently, graphene and graphene-related materials have attracted a great deal of attention due their unique physical, chemical, and biocompatibility properties and to their applications in biotechnology and medicine. However, the reports on the potential toxicity of graphene oxide (GO) in biological systems are very few. The present study investigated the response of kidneys in male Sprague-Dawley rats following exposure to 0, 10, 20 and 40 mg/Kg GO for five days. The results showed that administration of GOs significantly increased the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase in a dose-dependent manner in the kidneys compared with control group. Serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels were also significantly increased in rats intoxicated with GO compared with the control group. There was a significant elevation in the levels of hydrogen peroxide and lipid hydro peroxide in GOs-treated rats compared to control animals. Histopathological evaluation showed significant morphological alterations of kidneys in GO-treated rats compared to controls. Taken together, the results of this study demonstrate that GO is nephrotoxic and its toxicity may be mediated through oxidative stress. In the present work, however, we only provided preliminary information on toxicity of GO in rats; further experimental verification and mechanistic elucidation are required before GO widely used for biomedical applications.
Highlights
Graphene and its derivatives are promising material for important biomedical applications due to their versatility
Morphology, Morphology, diameter, diameter, tendency tendency of of aggregation aggregation and and cellular cellular distribution distribution of of nanoparticles nanoparticles were were characterized by using transmission electron microscope (TEM)
Spherical shaped characterized by using transmission electron microscope (TEM) (JEOL-1011)
Summary
Graphene and its derivatives are promising material for important biomedical applications due to their versatility. A detailed comprehensive study of the toxicity of these materials is required in context with the prospective use in biological setting. Due to the increasing application of nanotechnology, human and environmental exposures to graphene based nanomaterials are likely to increase in the future. Graphene and graphene-based nanomaterials have become popular in the industrial supermarket. As graphene technologies progress to commercialization and large-scale manufacturing, issues of material and processing safety will need to be more seriously considered. Limited information about the in vitro and in vivo toxicity of graphene and its derivatives are available, and more studies are required
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