Table 2.
model | species | dose (silver) | cytotoxic response | (pro)-inflammatory response | |
in vitro | epithelial airway barrier model, cultured at the air-liquid interface | human | 0.03 µg cm−2 0.3 µg cm−2 3 µg cm−2 |
none none none |
none none transienta |
ex vivo | precision-cut lung slices (PCLS) | rat | 10 µg mL−1 20 µg mL−1 30 µg mL−1 |
none weak weak |
none none noneb |
in vivo | intratracheal instillation | rat | 50 µg 250 µg |
none moderate |
none moderatec |
aSignificant increase in mRNA for TNF-α after 4 h, which decreased to control values after 24 h. No increase in TNF-α protein after 4 h and 24 h as determined by ELISA [125]. bSignificant, but weak increase in LDH release after incubation for 4 h and 24 h. No increase in CXCL-1 or TNF-α protein as determined by ELISA [126]. cSignificant increases in BALF LDH, total protein, and cytokine levels as well as in BALF neutrophil numbers 24 h after intratracheal instillation of 250 µg silver nanoparticles [124].