Table 1.
Summary of biodistribution or toxicity of AuNPs/AgNPs in rodents via exposure of intravenous injection.
| NPs | Size (nm) | Dose | Model | Exposure duration | Tissue accumulation (in order of quantity) | Conclusions | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AgNPs | 20, 200 | 5 mg kg−1 | Rats | 1, 7, 28 d | Li, Sp, Ki, Lu, Br, Ur, Fe | Higher tissue burden in 20 nm AgNPs group compared with 200 nm NPs group | 2 |
| AuNPs | 20 | 0.01 mg kg−1 | Rats | 1, 7 d, 1, 2 m | Li, Sp, Lu, Ki, He, Ur, Fe (Over 25 organs) | AuNPs widely deposited in the body over 2 months and caused gene expression changes after a single exposure | 6 |
| AgNPs | 7.2 ± 3.3 | 45, 5, 10 mg kg−1 | Rats | 1, 3 d | NM | Body weight and locomotor activity were decreased | 11 |
| AuNPs | 1.4, 5, 18, 80, 200, 2.8 | 1.6 ± 0.2–43.7 ± 5.3 μg/rat | Rats | 1 d | Li, Sp, Ki, Ca, Lu, Bl, GIT, Ut, He, Br, | Size and surface charge dependent distribution of NPs, e.g. most NPs accumulated in the liver increased from 50% of 1.4 nm NPs to >99% of 200 nm NPs | 13 |
| Au nanorods | NM | 0.56 mg kg−1 | Mice | 4 h, 1 d | Li, Sp, Lu, Ki, He, Tu | Gold nanorods reached to tumor tissue and had low toxicity, which was related to the surface modifications of NPs | 17 |
| AgNPs | 15–40 | 4, 10, 20, 40 mg kg−1 | Rats | 32 d | Li, Ki | AgNPs with dose <10 mg kg−1 is safe, while it is toxic when a dose over 20 mg kg−1 | 19 |
| AgNPs | 21.8 | 7.5, 30, 120 mg kg−1 | Mice | 1, 7, 14 d | Sp, Li, Lu, Ki | AgNPs could be deposited primarily in liver and spleen as well as other tissues. The circulation and elimination of NPs showed gender-related difference | 21 |
| AuNPs (PEGylated) | 11, 21, 31 | 0.07–0.30 mg kg−1 | Rats | 1 h, 1 d | Li, Sp, Ca, Bl, GIT + Fe, Lu, Ki, He, Ur, Br | 10 kDa PEG modified NPs showed prolonged blood circulation time, compared to non-PEGylated and 750 Da PEGylated AuNPs | 25 |
| AuNPs | 10, 50, 100, 250 | 0.077–0.108 mg kg−1 | Rats | 1 d | Li, Sp, Bl, Lu, Ki, He, Thy, Br, Te | Size-dependent tissue distribution of AuNPs with the smallest 10 nm showing the most widespread organ distribution | 26 |
| AuNPs | 15, 50, 100, 200 | 1000 mg kg−1 | Mice | 1 d | Li, Lu, Ki, Sp, He, Br, Bl, St, Pa | Size-dependent biodistribution of AuNPs with only smaller NPs (15 and 50 nm) crossing the blood-brain barrier | 27 |
| AgNPs | 20, 100 | 0.07–6 mg kg−1 | Rats | 28 d | NM | Immune system is the most sensitive parameter that could be affected by AgNPs, e. g. a dose of 0.01 mg kg−1 NPs decreased thymus weight | 28 |
| AgNPs | 35.3 ± 8.2 | 0.5 mg kg−1 | Rats | 1, 3, 5 d | Li, Sp, Lu, Ki, Br, Bl | Toxicity of AgNPs is mainly due to its intact nanostructure with minor contributions from its released silver ions | 30 |
| AuNPs | 13 ± 1 | 0.004–0.04 mg kg−1 | Rats | 1 h, 1 d | Li, Sp, Ca, Bl, Ki, GIT + Fe, Lu, Ut, He, Ur, Br | Polymer coated AuNPs with high colloidal stability can be degraded in vivo that caused by proteolytic enzymes | 31 |
| AuNPs | 16.1 | 0.7 mg kg−1 | Rats | 0.5 h, 28 d | Li, Sp, He, Ta, Lu, Bo, Bl, Ki, In, Te, Thy, Br, Mu | Surface coating showed greater effects on toxicity instead of on biodistribution of the AuNPs | 32 |
| AuNPs | 1.4, 80 | 0.011, 0.11 mg kg−1 | Rats | 1 d | Li, Ca, Ur, Sk, Ki, GIT + Fe, Bl, Sp, Lu, Ut, He, Br | The accumulation of 18 nm in spleen and liver is significantly higher compared with the 1.4 nm AuNPs | 33 |
| AgNPs, AuNPs | 3 ± 1.57, 6 | 11.4–13.3 mg kg−1 | Mice | 28, 56 d | Li, Sp, Ki, He, Lu, Te, Fe, Bl, In, St, Br, SV | AuNPs were mainly stored in the liver, whereas AgNPs were widely stored in more organs including the lung, brain, testis, etc | This study |
The abbreviations are used in the Table: NM – not mentioned, h – hour, d – day, w – week, m – month, Br – brain, He – heart, Li – liver, Lu – lung, Ki – kidney, In – intestine, Sk – skin, Sp – spleen, GIT – gastro-intestinal tract, Fe – feces, St – stomach, Te – testes, Thy – thymus, Tu – tumor, Ut – uterus, Ur – urine, Ca – carcass, Bl – blood, Bo – bones, SV – seminal vesicle, Mu – muscle, Pa –pancreas, Ta – tail.