Toxicological Research

Korean Society of Toxicology & Korea Environmental Mutagen Society (한국독성학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Assessment of reproductive toxicity of gold nanoparticles and its reversibility in male albino rats

  • Nancy A. Abdulhaq (Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University) ;
  • Dina A. Elnady (Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University) ;
  • Hend M. Abo El‑atta (Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University) ;
  • Doaa A. El‑Morsi (Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University) ;
  • Seham A. Gad El‑Hak (Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University)
  • Received : 2022.11.05
  • Accepted : 2023.07.21
  • Published : 2024.01.15
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Nanotechnology has become a trending area in science all over the world. Although gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been utilized widely in biomedical fields, potential toxicities may arise from their interactions with biological systems. The current study aimed at evaluating the toxic effects of AuNPs on the reproductive system of adult male albino rats and assessing the recovery probability. In this study, AuNPs (13±4 nm in diameter) were synthesized, and the experimental work was conducted on 60 adult male albino rats divided into the following groups: control group (received deionized water daily intraperitoneally (IP) for 28 days), test group, and withdrawal groups I and II (received 570 ㎍/kg of 13±4 nm AuNPs daily IP for 28 days). Withdrawal groups I and II were left for another 30 and 60 days without sacrification, respectively. The test group showed significant decreases in final body and absolute testicular weights, testosterone hormone level, sperm count and motility, and spermatogenesis score, as well as significant increase in the percentage of sperms of abnormal morphology compared to the control group, associated with significant light and electron microscopic histopathological changes. Partial improvement of all studied reproductive parameters was detected after one month of withdrawal in withdrawal group I, and significant improvement and reversibility of all these parameters were reported after two months of withdrawal in withdrawal group II. So, AuNPs induce male reproductive toxicity, which partially improves after one month of withdrawal and significantly improves and reverses after two months of withdrawal.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The authors owe deepest gratitude and appreciation to Prof. Dr. Fikri Mohamed Hassan Reicha, Professor of Physics, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University, may God have mercy on him, for his great help and guidance in gold nanoparticles preparation.

References

  1. Ahmed SI, Elsheikh AS, Attia GA, Ali TO (2016) Prenatal progesterone exposure of male rats induces morphometric and histological changes in testes. Asian Pac J Reprod 5:204-209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apjr.2016.04.015
  2. Bai Y, Zhang Y, Zhang J et al (2010) Repeated administrations of carbon nanotubes in male mice cause reversible testis damage without affecting fertility. Nat Nanotechnol 5:683-689. https://doi.org/10.1038/NNANO.2010.153
  3. Bayomy NA, Sarhan NI, Abdel-Razek KM (2012) Effect of an experimental left varicocele on the bilateral testes of adult rats: a histological and immunohistochemical study. Egyp J Histol 35:509-519. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.EHX.0000418065.13002.11
  4. Behnammorshedi M, Nazem H, Moghadam MS (2015) The effect of gold nanoparticle on luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, testosterone and testis in male rat. Biomed Res 26:48-352
  5. Bratovcic A (2019) Different applications of nanomaterials and their impact on the environment. Int J Mater Sci Eng 5:1-7. https://doi.org/10.14445/23948884/IJMSE-V5I1P101
  6. Chen H, Ng JP, Bishop DP et al (2018) Gold nanoparticles as cell regulators: beneficial effects of gold nanoparticles on the metabolic profile of mice with pre-existing obesity. J Nanobiotechnol 16:1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12951-018-0414-6
  7. Chianese R, Pierantoni R (2021) Mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) production alters sperm quality. Antioxidants 10:1-19. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox10010092
  8. Dayal N, Singh D, Patil P et al (2017) Effect of bioaccumulation of gold nanoparticles on ovarian morphology of female Zebrafish (Danio rerio). World J Pathol 6:1-12. http://www.npplweb.com/wjp/content/6/1
  9. El-Harouny MA, Zalata AA, Naser ME, Abo El-Atta HM, El-Shawaf IM, Mostafa T (2010) Long-term ofloxacin testicular toxicity: an experimental study. Andrologia 42:92-96. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0272.2009.00961.x
  10. Gupta H, Singh D, Vanage G et al (2018) Evaluation of histopathological and ultrastructural changes in the testicular cells of Wistar rats post chronic exposure to gold nanoparticles. Indian J Biotechnol 17:9-15. http://nopr.niscpr.res.in/handle/123456789/44831
  11. Habas K, Demir E, Guo C et al (2021) Toxicity mechanisms of nanoparticles in the male reproductive system. Drug Metab Rev 1:1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/03602532.2021.1917597
  12. Han SG, Lee JS, Ahn K et al (2015) Size-dependent clearance of gold nanoparticles from lungs of Sprague-Dawley rats after short-term inhalation exposure. Arch Toxicol 89:1083-1094. https://doi. org/10.1007/s00204-014-1292-9
  13. Hassan AA, Abdoon ASS, Elsheikh SM, Khairy MH, Gamaleldin AA, Elnabtity SM (2019) Effect of acute gold nanorods on reproductive function in male albino rats: histological, morphometric, hormonal, and redox balance parameters. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26:15816-15827. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-04884-x
  14. Hu X, Zhang Y, Ding T et al (2020) Multifunctional gold nanoparticles: a novel nanomaterial for various medical applications and biological activities. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 8:1-17. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2020.00990
  15. Huang Y, Zhang Y, Liu Z et al (2020) Autophagy participates in lysosomal vacuolation-mediated cell death in RGNNV-infected cells. Front Microbiol 11:1-14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.00790
  16. Iftikhar M, Noureen A, Uzair M et al (2021) Perspectives of nanoparticles in male infertility: evidence for induced abnormalities in sperm production. Int J Environ Res Public Health 18:1-19. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041758
  17. Jia YP, Ma BY, Wei XW et al (2017) The in vitro and in vivo toxicity of gold nanoparticles. Chin Chem Lett 28:691-702. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cclet.2017.01.021
  18. Kamel ME, Mohammad HM, Maurice C et al (2019) Ginseng nanoparticles protect against methotrexate-induced testicular toxicity in rats. Egypt J Basic Clin Pharmacol 9:1-14. https://doi.org/10.32527/2019/101397
  19. Kumar V, Abbas AK, Aster JC (2017) Robbins basic pathology e-book, 10th edn. Elsevier Health Sciences, Philadelphia, Pensylvania, pp 31-53
  20. Leclerc L, Klein JP, Forest V et al (2015) Testicular biodistribution of silica-gold nanoparticles after intramuscular injection in mice. Biomed Microdevice 17:1-11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-015-9968-3
  21. Liu Y, Li X, Xiao S et al (2020) The effects of gold nanoparticles on Leydig cells and male reproductive function in mice. Int J Nanomed 15:1-26. https://doi.org/10.2147/IJN.S276606
  22. Lopez-Chaves C, Soto-Alvaredo J, Montes-Bayon M et al (2018) Gold nanoparticles: distribution, bioaccumulation and toxicity. In vitro and in vivo studies. Nanomedicine 14:1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nano.2017.08.011
  23. Maldonado-Ortega DA, Navarro-Tovar G, Martinez-Castanon G et al (2021) Effect of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on isolated rat tracheal segments. Toxicol Rep 8:1412-1418. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxrep.2021.07.002
  24. Merza KS, Al-Attabi HD, Abbas ZM et al (2012) Comparative study on methods for preparation of gold nanoparticles. Green Sustain Chem 2:26-28. https://doi.org/10.4236/gsc.2012.21005
  25. Moft JS, Bryant BH, Hall SJ et al (2007) Dose-dependent effects of Sertoli cell toxicants 2, 5-hexanedione, carbendazim, and mono-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate in adult rat testis. Toxicol Pathol 35:719-727. https://doi.org/10.1080/01926230701481931
  26. Mohamed D, Saber A, Omar A et al (2014) Effect of cadmium on the testes of adult albino rats and the ameliorating effect of zinc and vitamin E. Br J Sci 11:72-95
  27. Nair AB, Jacob S (2016) A simple practice guide for dose conversion between animals and human. J Basic Clin Pharmacy 7:27. https://doi.org/10.4103/0976-0105.177703
  28. Nazari M, Talebi AR, Sharifabad MH et al (2016) Acute and chronic effects of gold nanoparticles on sperm parameters and chromatin structure in mice. Int J Reprod Biomed 14:637-642 https://doi.org/10.29252/ijrm.14.10.637
  29. Nirmal NK, Awasthi KK, John PJ (2017) Effects of nano-graphene oxide on testis, epididymis and fertility of Wistar rats. Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol 121:202-210. https://doi.org/10.1111/bcpt.12782
  30. Ren L, Zhang J, Zou Y et al (2016) Silica nanoparticles induce reversible damage of spermatogenic cells via RIPK1 signal pathways in C57 mice. Int J Nanomed 11:2251-2264. https://doi.org/10.2147/IJN.S102268
  31. Sakhtianchi R, Minchin RF, Lee KB et al (2013) Exocytosis of nanoparticles from cells: role in cellular retention and toxicity. Adv Coll Interface Sci 201:18-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cis.2013.10.013
  32. Taylor U, Barchanski A, Petersen S et al (2014) Gold nanoparticles interfere with sperm functionality by membrane adsorption without penetration. Nanotoxicology 8:118-127. https://doi.org/10.3109/17435390.2013.859321
  33. Thakur M, Gupta H, Singh D et al (2014) Histopathological and ultrastructural effects of nanoparticles on rat testis following 90 days (chronic study) of repeated oral administration. J Nanobiotechnol 12:1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12951-014-0042-8
  34. Umair M, Javed I, Rehman M et al (2016) Nanotoxicity of inert materials: the case of gold, silver and iron. J Pharm Pharm Sci 19:161-180. https://doi.org/10.18433/J31021
  35. Velikorodnaya YI, Pocheptsov AY, Sokolov OI et al (2015) Effect of gold nanoparticles on proliferation and apoptosis during spermatogenesis in rats. Nanotechnol Russ 10:814-819. https://doi.org/10.1134/S1995078015050201
  36. Wiwanitkit V, Sereemaspun A, Rojanathanes R (2009) Effect of gold nanoparticles on spermatozoa: the frst world report. Fertil Steril 91:e7-e8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2007.08.021
  37. Xu Y, Wang N, Yu Y et al (2014) Exposure to silica nanoparticles causes reversible damage of the spermatogenic process in mice. PLoS One 9:1-11. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0101572
  38. Yan SQ, Xing R, Zhou YF et al (2016) Reproductive toxicity and gender diferences induced by cadmium telluride quantum dots in an invertebrate model organism. Sci Rep 6:1-16. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep34182
  39. Yulug E, Turedi S, Alver A et al (2013) Effects of resveratrol on methotrexate-induced testicular damage in rats. Sci World J 8:1-12. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/489659
  40. Zhang H, Huang X, Zhang Y et al (2017) Efficacy, safety and mechanism of HP-β-CD-PEI polymers as absorption enhancers on the intestinal absorption of poorly absorbable drugs in rats. Drug Dev Ind Pharm 43:474-482. https://doi.org/10.1080/03639045.2016.1264412
  41. Zhang XD, Wu HY, Wu D et al (2010) Toxicologic effects of gold nanoparticles in vivo by different administration routes. Int J Nanomed 5:771-781. https://doi.org/10.2147/IJN.S8428