Table 1.

Semiquantitative analysis of the biodistribution, as amount and localization, of AgNPs and AuNPs after injection in mouse tail vein of 10⁸ NPs performed by transmission electron microscope.

	AgNPs (30 nm, d-Glucose Coated, Round)		AuNPs (10 nm, PEG+FDG Coated, Round)
Organs	Amount	Localization	Amount	Localization
Liver	++	Nucleus and cytoplasm of hepatocytes	++	Kupffer cells and endothelial cells (nucleus)
Kidney	++	Cortex level	+++	Red blood cells and cortex
Intestine	++	Goblet’s cells mucus Cytosol of enterocytes	++	Goblet’s cells Connective tissue
Brain	+	Schwann cells: myelin	+++	Schwann cells: myelin
Spleen	+	Nucleus, mithocondria, RER	++	Endothelium of blood vessels Nucleus, mitochondria, RER
Stomach	++	Cytoplasm of stomach cells	N.D.
Heart	++	Mithocondria, lysosomes, cytoplasm	++	Mitochondria, lysosomes, cytoplasm
Pancreas	N.D.		+	RER

(+) low amount of NPs; (++) high amount of NPs; (+++) highest amount of NPs; N.D.: not detected.