Table 3.

Toxicity of AgNPs in in vivo models.

Route of Administration	Model	Size of the Particle	Dose	Effect	Reference
Oral	Male Wistar rats	10 ± 4 nm (CT-capped)	0.2 mg/kg	Induced oxidative stress in brain but not in liver	[208]
Inhalation	Sprague–Dawley rats	18 nm	0.6 × 106 particle/cm3, 49 μg/m3(low dose), 1.4 × 106 particle/cm3, 133 μg/m3 (middle dose) and 3.0 × 106 particle/cm3, 515 μg/m3 (high dose)	Silver accumulated in lung, liver, Brain, Kidneys with increase of bile duct hyperplasia in AgNP-exposed liver	[209]
Oral	F344 rats	56 nm	30, 125, 500 mg/kg	Accumulation of silver in kidneys was gender-dependent, with a 2-fold increase in female kidneys.	[210]
Intratracheal instillation	Female Wistar rats	50 nm; 200 nm (PVP-coated)	0.1875, 0.375, 0.75, 1.5, 3 mg/kg	Accumulation of Ag in liver, spleen and kidney with inflammation in lung.	[211]
Oral	Male Sprague Dawley rats	20 nm	820 mg/kg	AgNPs induces liver and cardiac oxidative stress	[212]
Inhalation	Male C57Bl/6 mice	10 nm (PVP-coated)	3.3 ± 0.5 mg/m3 or 31 µg/g lung	Minimal pulmonary toxicity.	[213]
Oral	Sprague Dawley rats	10 nm; 75 nm; 110 nm	9, 18, 36 mg/kg	No toxic effect on blood, reproductive and genetic system tested was observed.	[214]
Intratracheal instillation	BALB/C mice	10 nm	0.05, 0.5, 5 mg/kg	Oxidative stress, DNA damage, apoptosis in heart	[215]
Oral	Male Sprague Dawley rats	20–30 nm (PVP-coated)	50, 100, 200 mg/kg	High dose of AgNPs induced hepatocellular damage by increased ROS production	[216]
Inhalation	BrownNorway and Sprague–Dawley rats	15 nm	8, 28 µg	Accumulated in lungs with production of proinflammatory and pro-neutrophilic cytokines.	[217]
Intratracheal instillation	Male Sprague–Dawley rats	20 nm (CT-capped)	1 mg/kg	Cardiac ischemic-reperfusion injury.	[218]
Inhalation	Female C57BL/6 mice	18–20 nm	3.80 × 107 part. /cm−3	Increased number of resorbed fetuses associated with reduced estrogen plasma levels	[219]