In vivo acute toxicity of high doses of nanoparticles of three different porous iron(III) carboxylate Metal-Organic Frameworks (nanoMOFs) was intravenously investigated in rats by evaluating their distribution, metabolism and excretion. All studied parameters (serum, enzymatic, histological, etc.) are in agreement with a low acute toxicity. The mechanism of degradation and excretion of the nanoMOFs has been evidenced and shows that the nanoparticles are rapidly sequestered by the liver and spleen, then further biodegraded and directly eliminated in urine or feces without metabolization and substantial toxicity.

Poisoning and accidental oral intoxication are major health problems worldwide. Considering the insufficient efficacy of the currently available detoxification treatments, a pioneering oral detoxifying adsorbent agent based on a single biocompatible metal-organic framework (MOF) is here proposed for the efficient decontamination of drugs commonly implicated in accidental or voluntary poisoning. Furthermore, the in vivo toxicity and biodistribution of a MOF via oral administration have been investigated for the first time. Orally administered upon a salicylate overdose, this MOF is able to reduce the salicylate gastrointestinal absorption and toxicity more than 40-fold (avoiding histological damage) while exhibiting exceptional gastrointestinal stability (<9% degradation), poor intestinal permeation, and safety.

Objectives The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of cigarette smoking on plasma uric acid concentration and to determine the correlation between this parameter and the biological tobacco markers, plasma thiocyanate and urinary cotinine. Methods The initial study was conducted on 300 subjects; 138 of them were nonsmokers (62 men and 76 women) aged 14-72 years and 162 were current smokers (145 men and 17 women) aged 16-85 years. Uric acid, creatinine, and urinary cotinine were determined by the enzymatic colorimetric method and plasma thiocyanate by selective electrode. Results Plasma uric acid concentration was significantly lower in smokers than in nonsmokers. A statistically significant negative correlation was noted between the smoking status parameters, including both the number of cigarettes smoked/day (F 3-161 = 12.063; r = -0.9968; p = 0.0001) and the duration of smoking (F 3-161 = 1.305; r = -0.9406; p = 0.0274), and the plasma uric acid. Among smokers, we noted a negative correlation between uric acid and both plasma thiocyanates (r = -0.437; p \ 0.05) and urinary cotinine (r = -0.580; p \ 0.05). Conclusion After excluding the other factors affecting the uric acid levels, the significant low plasma uric acid in smokers was attributed to a reduction of the endogenous production as a result of the chronic exposure to cigarette smoke that is a significant source of oxidative stress. Therefore, it is recommended to stop or reduce smoking and to introduce plasma uric acid estimation as a routine test, since it is cheap and simple to reflect the antioxidant level.

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International audienceTitanate nanotubes (Ti-Nts) have proved to be a potential candidate for drug delivery due to their large surface change and higher cellular uptake as a direct consequence of their tubular shape. Ti-Nts were assessed for their safety, their kinetics of cellular uptake on U87-MG cell line and for genistein loading efficiency. No cytotoxic effect was observed under higher empty Ti-Nts concentrations up to 100 mu g mL(-1). The multiwalled tubular morphology was found to be an important parameter promoting high drug loading. The Ti-Nts could achieve higher genistein drug-loading content (25.2%) and entrapment efficiency (51.2%) leading to a controlled drug release as well as a higher cellular uptake of genistein-loaded- Ti-Nts which induces higher cytotoxicity and significant anti-migratory effect on U87-MG human glioblastoma astrocytoma, promising efficient antitumor activity