Assessment of Pristine Carbon Nanotubes Toxicity in Rodent Models

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes are increasingly used in nanomedicine and material chemistry research, mostly because of their small size over a large surface area. Due to their properties, they are very attractive candidates for use in medicine and as drug carriers, contrast agents, biological platforms, and so forth. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) may affect many organs, directly or indirectly, so there is a need for toxic effects evaluation. The main mechanisms of toxicity include oxidative stress, inflammation, the ability to damage DNA and cell membrane, as well as necrosis and apoptosis. The research concerning CNTs focuses on different animal models, functionalization, ways of administration, concentrations, times of exposure, and a variety of properties, which have a significant effect on toxicity. The impact of pristine CNTs on toxicity in rodent models is being increasingly studied. However, it is immensely difficult to compare obtained results since there are no standardized tests. This review summarizes the toxicity issues of pristine CNTs in rodent models, as they are often the preferred model for human disease studies, in different organ systems, while considering the various factors that affect them. Regardless, the results showed that the majority of toxicological studies using rodent models revealed some toxic effects. Even with different properties, carbon nanotubes were able to generate inflammation, fibrosis, or biochemical changes in different organs. The problem is that there are only a small amount of long-term toxicity studies, which makes it impossible to obtain a good understanding of later effects. This article will give a greater overview of the situation on toxicity in many organs. It will allow researchers to look at the toxicity of carbon nanotubes in a broader context and help to identify studies that are missing to properly assess toxicity.

Carbon Nanomaterial Fluorescent Probes and Their Biological Applications

“…Tissues and organs are sampled and subjected to histopathological examination, revealing any morphological changes indicative of cellular damage, inflammation, or necrosis. For a comprehensive analysis of the in vivo CNM cytotoxicity, readers are encouraged to refer to recent reviews, as this is a heavily examined topic in previous reviews. , …”

“…For a comprehensive analysis of the in vivo CNM cytotoxicity, readers are encouraged to refer to recent reviews, as this is a heavily examined topic in previous reviews. 1314,1315 There is a recent study performed to determine the cytotoxicity of CDs in vivo, where researchers found that CDs synthesized from sugar cane molasses at concentrations lower than 150 μg/mL had no impact on embryonic toxicity nor showed impediment on embryo development in zebrafish. 1316 Conversely, concentrations higher than 200 μg/mL greatly increased cytotoxicity, and demonstrated an impact on the dopamine levels, and a decrease in TH + neuronal cells.…”

Nanotechnological advances in cancer: therapy a comprehensive review of carbon nanotube applications

“…By using nanocarrier systems, it may be possible to deliver anticancer drugs to cancer cells more efficiently, thereby improving treatment efficacy and reducing side effects. However, this research is still in its preliminary stages and further studies are needed to validate the effectiveness and safety of this approach ( Witkowska et al, 2022 ; Rashid et al, 2023 ).…”

Cytotoxicity of Carbon Nanotubes, Graphene, Fullerenes, and Dots

“…The toxicology of carbon nanomaterials was studied for carbon nanotubes [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14], graphene [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28], fullerenes [29][30][31][32][33], and dots [34][35][36][37][38]. Most of the work deals with microorganisms, animals, and humans.…”