[Status of biological evaluation on silver nanoparticles]

Silver nanoparticles have been widely used in medicinal and biological fields. Their biological evaluation is an important researchful field. In this paper are summarized the status quo of nano-hydroxyapatite biological evaluation at home and abroad. Although silver nanoparticles showed good biological compatibility when they were tested by contrast to ISO 10993 standards, some reports have proved that many medical devices loaded with silver could release silver ions (Ag+) which could translocate in blood circulation and cumulate in some organs such as liver and kidney. It may induce hepatotoxicity or renal toxicity and may lead to death in some situation extremely exposed to a certain dose of Ag+. The dimension of silver nanoparticles is close to silver ions and some reports have proved that they could translocate in body, so it is suggested that silver nanoparticles should induce the same toxicity with silver ions. In addition, silver nanoparticles have shown cytotoxicity in some experiment in vitro. But the mechanisms of its cytotoxity are not clear; it may attribute to the silver ions that release from silver nanoparticles or to the silver nanoparticles that permeate through cell membrane. Hence, there are some potential anxieties for the biological safety of silver nanoparticles.