Cirrhotic Liver of Liver Transplant Recipients Accumulate Silver and Co-Accumulate Copper

Abstract

Silver-based materials are widely used in clinical medicine. Furthermore, the usage of silver containing materials and devices is widely recommended and clinically approved. The impact on human health of the increasing use of silver nanoparticles in medical devices remains understudied, even though Ag-containing dressings are known to release silver into the bloodstream. In this study, we detected a widespread and sometimes significant silver accumulation both in healthy and sick liver biopsies, levels being statistically higher in patients with various hepatic pathologies. 28 healthy and 44 cirrhotic liver samples were investigated. The median amount of 0.049 ppm Ag in livers was measured in cirrhotic livers while the median was 0.0016 ppm for healthy livers (a more than 30-fold difference). The mean tissue concentrations of essential metals, Fe and Zn in cirrhotic livers did not differ substantially from healthy livers, while Cu was positively correlated with Ag. The serum levels of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGTP) was also positively correlated with Ag in cirrhotic livers. The increased Ag accumulation in cirrhotic livers could be a side effect of wide application of silver in clinical settings. As recent studies indicated a significant toxicity of silver nanoparticles for human cells, the above observation could be of high importance for the public health.

Cuproptosis-Related Risk Score Predicts Prognosis and Characterizes the Tumor Microenvironment in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

“…Due to the oxidative potential of copper in inducing free radical production, excess storage of copper could lead to cellular damage and even pathological diseases such as Wilson’s disease ( 45 ). Liver cirrhosis, a well-known cause for HCC, showed an accumulation of copper when compared with healthy liver ( 46 ). Thus, we hypothesized that HCC cells might develop a strategy in attenuating the toxicity of the increased concentration of copper and avoiding the incidence of recent proposed cuproptosis.…”

Structures of Silver Fingers and a Pathway to Their Genotoxicity

“…The authors would like to thank Manuel D. Peris‐Díaz for sharing his MD results on Ag n S n clusters. [26] The authors acknowledge the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility for provision of synchrotron radiation facilities (project LS‐2967) and thank Isabelle Kieffer for assistance in using the beamline BM30. The support of SRCD measurements from the CALIPSOplus (EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation HORIZON 2020, grant no.…”

“…Rapid expansion of these coatings elevates the population exposure to AgNPs and Ag I ions. Recently, high accumulation of silver in the liver and inhibition of hepatocyte nuclear receptors (NR) activity have been reported [24–26] . The silver reactivity with biomolecules is enabled by its high tendency to bind soft Lewis bases such as thiols, posing a question whether ZFs may be targets for Ag I toxicity, e.g.…”

Cluster-luminescent polysiloxane nanomaterials: adjustable full-color ultralong room temperature phosphorescence and a highly sensitive response to silver ions

“…34,35 When the content of Ag + in the body exceeds the critical concentration, it will also cause certain harm to the liver. 36 Therefore, the detection of Ag + is very important. However, the current detection methods of Ag + , mainly including atomic absorption spectrometry, atomic emission spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and so on, need complex procedures and expensive experimental equipment.…”