Toxicity of Nanoparticles and an Overview of Current Experimental Models

Nanotechnology is a rapidly growing field having potential applications in many areas. Nanoparticles (NPs) have been studied for cell toxicity, immunotoxicity, and genotoxicity. Tetrazolium-based assays such as MTT, MTS, and WST-1 are used to determine cell viability. Cell inflammatory response induced by NPs is checked by measuring inflammatory biomarkers, such as IL-8, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor, using ELISA. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay is used for cell membrane integrity. Different types of cell cultures, including cancer cell lines have been employed as in vitro toxicity models. It has been generally agreed that NPs interfere with either assay materials or with detection systems. So far, toxicity data generated by employing such models are conflicting and inconsistent. Therefore, on the basis of available experimental models, it may be difficult to judge and list some of the more valuable NPs as more toxic to biological systems and vice versa. Considering the potential applications of NPs in many fields and the growing apprehensions of FDA about the toxic potential of nanoproducts, it is the need of the hour to look for new internationally agreed free of bias toxicological models by focusing more on in vivo studies.