Immunostaining of proinflammatory cytokines in renal cortex and medulla of rats exposed to gold nanoparticles
Haseeb A. Khan1, Khalid E. Ibrahim2, Ayaat Khan3, Salman H. Alrokayan1 and Abdullah S. Alhomida1
1Department of Biochemistry, 2Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and 3Integral Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Lucknow, India
Offprint requests to: Prof. Haseeb A. Khan PhD, FRCPath, FRSC, Department of Biochemistry, College of Science, Bldg. 5, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 1145, Saudi Arabia. e-mail: khan_haseeb@yahoo.com
Summary. Recently, gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have shown promising applications in targeted drug delivery and contrast imaging. Although in vitro cytotoxicity of GNPs has been thoroughly studied, there are limited data on in vivo toxicity of GNPs. In this study, we evaluated the effects of intraperitoneally injected 10 nm and 50 nm GNPs (5 μg/animal) on the expression of proinflamma-tory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α) on day 1 and day 5, post-exposure. The results of immunohisto-chemistry showed that both 10 nm and 50 nm GNPs induced an acute phase expression of proinflammatory cytokines in renal cortex and medulla. This proinflammatory response was comparatively more intense in renal medulla than cortex. All the three cytokines were undetectable in control cortex and medulla. In conclusion, both 10 nm and 50 nm GNPs caused an acute phase induction of proinflammatory cytokines in cortex and medulla of rat kidneys. An intense immunostaining of proinflammatory cytokines in renal medulla warrants further studies to evaluate the nephrotoxicity of GNPs to validate the safe application of GNPs for contrast imaging in renal insufficiency. Histol Histopathol 32, 597-607 (2017)
Key words: Gold nanoparticles, Proinflammatory cytokines, Immunohistochemistry, Kidney, Rats
DOI: 10.14670/HH-11-825