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Impact of the functional coating of silver nanoparticles on their in vivo performance and biosafety

مؤلف البحث
Hesham M. Tawfeek, Mahmoud A. Younis, Basmah Nasser Aldosari, Alanood Sunhat Almurshedi, Ahmed Abdelfattah & Jelan A. Abdel-Aleem
تاريخ البحث
مجلة البحث
Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy
الناشر
Tylor and Francis
عدد البحث
49
موقع البحث
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03639045.2023.2214207
سنة البحث
2023
صفحات البحث
349-356
ملخص البحث

Objective and significance

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have become an interesting therapeutic modality and drug delivery platform. Herein, we aimed to investigate the impact of functional coating on the in vivo performance of AgNPs as an economic and scalable method to modulate their behavior.

Methods

AgNPs were coated with chitosan (CHI) as a model biopolymer using a one-pot reduction-based method, where CHI of two molecular weight ranges were investigated. The resultant CHI-coated AgNPs (AgNPs-CHI) were characterized using UV-VIS spectroscopy, DLS, and TEM. AgNPs were administered intravenously to rats and their biodistribution and serum levels of hepato-renal function markers were monitored 24 h later compared to plain AgNO3 as a positive control.

Results

UV-VIS spectroscopy confirmed the successful coating of AgNPs with CHI. DLS revealed the superiority of medium molecular weight CHI over its low molecular weight counterpart. AgNPs-CHI demonstrated a semi-complete clearance from the systemic circulation, a liver-dominated tissue tropism, and limited renal exposure. On the other hand, AgNO3 was poorly cleared from the circulation, with relatively high renal exposure and a non-specific tissue tropism. AgNPs-CHI were well-tolerated by the liver and kidney without signs of toxicity or inflammation, in contrary with AgNO3 which resulted in a significant elevation of Creatinine (CRE), Urea, and Total Protein (TP), suggesting a significant nephrotoxicity and inflammation.

Conclusions

Functional coating of AgNPs with CHI substantially modulated their in vivo behavior, promoting their hepatic selectivity and biotolerability, which can be invested in the development of drug delivery systems for the treatment of liver diseases.