RESUMO
In our present work some biological tests were carried out to assess the biocompatibility of nicotinic acid coated magnetite nanorods. Pure and coated nanorods were injected intraperitoneally to cholesterol fed mice with dose values of 25, 50 mg/Kg. Investigations were done on treated mice with/without exposure to low frequency electromagnetic field (EMF) and samples were collected fourteen days post treatment. Toxicological effects were evaluated using Micronucleus and DNA fragmentation analysis. The results indicated that low dose (25 mg/Kg) nicotinic acid coated nanorods had insignificant toxicological effects in comparison to that of control group. Lipid profile analysis and gene expression of atheroprotective (eNOS) and atherogenic (p65) genes were also investigated. It was found that experimental groups treated with low dose nicotinic acid coated magnetite nanorods and exposed to EMF showed interesting alterations in mice lipid profile. As a result, an insignificant but slight increase in gene expression levels of eNOS and a significant decrease in p65 gene expression were observed. Our study suggests that our proposed magnetic nanosystem in combination with EMF has good biocompatibility and can be a potential drug precursor with therapeutic values.