The toxicity of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles induced on the testicular cells: In vitro study.

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have gained significant attention in biomedical research due to their potential applications. However, little is known about their impact and toxicity on testicular cells. To address this issue, we conducted an in vitro study using primary mouse testicular cells, testis fragments, and sperm to investigate the cytotoxic effects of sodium citrate-coated SPIONs (Cit_SPIONs). Herein, we synthesized and physiochemically characterized the Cit_SPIONs and observed that the sodium citrate diminished the size and improved the stability of nanoparticles in solution during the experimental time. The sodium citrate (measured by thermogravimetry) was biocompatible with testicular cells at the used concentration (3%). Despite these favorable physicochemical properties, the in vitro experiments demonstrated the cytotoxicity of Cit_SPIONs, particularly towards testicular somatic cells and sperm cells. Transmission electron microscopy analysis confirmed that Leydig cells preferentially internalized Cit_SPIONs in the organotypic culture system, which resulted in alterations in their cytoplasmic size. Additionally, we found that Cit_SPIONs exposure had detrimental effects on various parameters of sperm cells, including motility, viability, DNA integrity, mitochondrial activity, lipid peroxidation (LPO), and ROS production. Our findings suggest that testicular somatic cells and sperm cells are highly sensitive and vulnerable to Cit_SPIONs and induced oxidative stress. This study emphasizes the potential toxicity of SPIONs, indicating significant threats to the male reproductive system. Our findings highlight the need for detailed development of iron oxide nanoparticles to enhance reproductive nanosafety.

Phospholipids modifications in human hepatoma cell lines (HepG2) exposed to silver and iron oxide nanoparticles.

Metallic nanoparticles such as silver (Ag NPs) and iron oxide (Fe3O4 NPs) nanoparticles are high production volume materials due to their applications in various consumer products, and in nanomedicine. However, their inherent toxicities to human cells remain a challenge. The present study was aimed at combining lipidomics data with common phenotypically-based toxicological assays to gain better understanding into cellular response to Ag NPs and Fe3O4 NPs exposure. HepG2 cells were exposed to different concentrations (3.125, 6.25, 12.5, 25, 50 and 100 µg/ml) of the nanoparticles for 24 h, after which they were assayed for toxic effects using toxicological assays like cytotoxicity, mutagenicity, apoptosis and oxidative stress. The cell membrane phospholipid profile of the cells was also performed using shotgun tandem mass spectrometry. The results showed that nanoparticles exposure resulted in concentration-dependent cytotoxicity as well as reduced cytokinesis-block proliferation index (CBPI). Also, there was an increase in the production of ROS and superoxide anions in exposed cells compared to the negative control. The lipidomics data revealed that nanoparticles exposure caused a modulation of the phospholipidome of the cells. A total of 155 lipid species were identified, out of which the fold changes of 23 were significant. The high number of differentially changed phosphatidylcholine species could be an indication that inflammation is one of the major mechanisms of toxicity of the nanoparticles to the cells.