Assessing the in vitro and in vivo toxicity of ultrafine carbon black to mouse liver

Abstract

The increasing presence of nanomaterials in commercial products makes large quantities of nanoparticles reach the environment intentionally or accidentally. Their ability to be cleared from lung to stomach and then translocate into blood circulation suggests they may cause effects on the organs and cells of the organism. In this study, we characterized the dispersity of UFCB (ultrafine carbon black, FW200) in the complete medium and investigated the toxicity of FW200 to mouse hepatocytes and the liver both in vitro and in vivo. FW200 dispersed homogeneously in the complete medium with an average size at around 100 nm. In vitro, FW200 induced apparent cytotoxicity in the hepatocytes with the level of oxidative stress, apoptosis and the viability of hepatocytes changed by approximately 30%. The intracellular catalase (CAT) activity was stimulated by FW200 to a higher level than the control group. In vivo, the 7-week mice were exposed to FW200 (10 mg/kg body weight) by oral administration for six days. The liver was collected and used for histopathological analysis. In our findings, the 13 nm carbon black nanoparticle was proved to induce acute inflammation and apoptosis in the liver. The particles were also proved to have a damage to central veins and architecture of the hepatocytes. These findings suggest that the carbon black nanoparticle could cause a negative effect at both the cellular and organism level and unearthed the potential effects of carbon black nanoparticles on animals and human.

Keywords: Carbon black; Hepatocytes; Histopathology; Nanotoxicology; Oxidative stress.