Histological, haematological, and thyroid hormones toxicity of female rats orally exposed to CuO/ZnO core/shell nanoparticles synthesized by Ar plasma jets.

Advancements in nanomedicine helped scientists design a new class of nanoparticles known as hybrid nanoparticles (core/shell) for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. An essential requirement for the successful use of nanoparticles in biomedical applications is their low toxicity. Therefore, toxicological profiling is necessary to understand the mechanism of nanoparticles. The current study aimed to assess the toxicological potential of CuO/ZnO core/shell nanoparticles with a size of 32 nm in Albino female rats. In vivo toxicity was evaluated by oral administration of 0, 5, 10, 20, and 40 (mg/L) of CuO/ZnO core/shell nanoparticles to a female rate for 30 consecutive days. During the time of treatment, no deaths were observed. The toxicological evaluation revealed significant (p < 0.01) alteration in white blood cells (WBC) at a 5 (mg/L) dose. Also, increase in red blood cells (RBC) at 5, 10 (mg/L) doses, while hemoglobin (Hb) levels and hematocrit (HCT) increased at all doses. This maybe indicates that the CuO/ZnO core/shell nanoparticles stimulated the rate of blood corpuscle generation. The anaemia diagnostic indices (mean corpuscular volume MCV and mean corpuscular haemoglobin MCH) remained unchanged throughout the experiment for all the doses tested 5, 10, 20, and 40 (mg/L). According to the results of this study, exposure to CuO/ZnO core/shell NPs deteriorates the Triiodothyronine hormone (T3) and a Thyroxine hormone (T4) activated by Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone (TSH), which is generated and secreted from the pituitary gland. There is possibly related to an increase in free radicals and a decrease in antioxidant activity. Significant (p < 0.01) growth retardation in all groups treated due to rats' infection by Hyperthyroidism induced by thyroxine (T4) level increase. Hyperthyroidism is a catabolic state related to increased energy consumption, protein turnover, and lipolysis. Usually, these metabolic effects result in weight reduction and a decrease in fat storage and lean body mass. The histological examination indicates that the low concentrations of CuO/ZnO core/shell nanoparticles are safe for desired biomedical applications.

A novel method for ZnO@NiO core-shell nanoparticle synthesis using pulse laser ablation in liquid and plasma jet techniques.

Given their versatile nature and wide range of possible applications, core-shell nanoparticles (NPs) have received considerable attention. This paper proposes a novel method for synthesizing ZnO@NiO core-shell nanoparticles using a hybrid technique. The characterization demonstrates the successful formation of ZnO@NiO core-shell nanoparticles, which have an average crystal size of 13.059 nm. The results indicate that the prepared NPs have excellent antibacterial activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. This behavior is primarily caused by the accumulation of ZnO@NiO NPs on the bacteria's surface, which results in cytotoxic bacteria and a relatively increased ZnO, resulting in cell death. Moreover, the use of a ZnO@NiO core-shell material will prevent the bacteria from nourishing themselves in the culture medium, among many other reasons. Finally, the PLAL is an easily scalable, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly method for the synthesis of NPs, and the prepared core-shell NPs could be used in other biological applications such as drug delivery, cancer treatment, and further biomedical functionalization.

Estimation of in vivo toxicity of MgO/ZnO core/shell nanoparticles synthesized by eco-friendly non-thermal plasma technology.

MgO/ZnO core/shell nanoparticles were synthesized using the atmosphere plasma jets technique. The physical properties of the synthesized nanoparticles were investigated by a series of techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). XRD and EDS analyses confirmed the purity of the nanoparticles synthesized with an average nanoparticle crystallite size of 36 nm. TEM confirmed the successful synthesis of spindle-shaped MgO/ZnO core/shell nanoparticles with an average size of 70 nm. To evaluate their toxicity, the MgO/ZnO core/shell nanoparticles were tested in vivo. Twenty-five albino female rats were randomly divided into five groups (five rats in each group); one was used as the control group and the other four as the experimental groups. Doses of the MgO/ZnO core/shell nanoparticles solution were orally administered to the test groups to examine the toxicity. For 30 consecutive days, each rat in test groups 2-5 received 1 mL of the MgO/ZnO core/shell nanoparticles solution at the respective doses of 1.25, 2.5, 5, and 10 mg L-1. The rats' growth, hematology, thyroid gland function, and histopathology were examined after 30 days. Findings indicate that the growth retardation in the rats treated with MgO/ZnO core/shell nanoparticles may be due to their infection by Hyperthyroidism. The hematology results show the nonsignificant effect of MgO/ZnO core/shell nanoparticles on white blood cells, implying that these nanoparticles have no harmful impact on the immune system. Moreover, the levels of the thyroxine and thyroid-stimulating hormones increased, and that of the triiodothyronine hormone decreased. The histological analysis results show that low concentrations of MgO/ZnO core/shell nanoparticles are safe for desired biomedical applications.