Effects of Various Carbon Nanotube Suspensions on A549, THP-1, and Peritoneal Macrophage Cells

Follow the time course of inflammation caused by intraperitoneal administration of multi-wall carbon nanotubes in mice

OBJECTIVE

Understand the progress of inflammation over time caused by multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT).

METHODS

Two types of MWCNTs were administered to C57BL/6N mice via intraperitoneal administration at low and high doses (0.05 and 1.0 mg/mouse, respectively). Inflammation was evaluated until 6 months after administration based on cytokine levels and pathological observations. The abdominal cavity lavage fluid was collected and analyzed 1 week, 1, 3, and 6 month(s) after administration. IL-6 expression markedly increased 3 months after the administration of high-dose MWCNT-7.

RESULTS

Notable inflammation was observed in the groups administered with one of the MWCNT, MWCNT-7. On the other hand, inflammation in another MWCNT-treated group was milder than that in the MWCNT-7-treated group. MWCNT-7 induced pronounced inflammation but did not induce tumor formation during the experimental period. Inflammation reaction is one of the most important biological responses to MWCNT.

CONCLUSION

Three months post-exposure becomes a turning point for the harmful effects of the intraperitoneally administered MWCNT-7.

Comparison of cytotoxicity and membrane efflux pump inhibition in HepG2 cells induced by single-walled carbon nanotubes with different length and functional groups

Environmental risk of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) is receiving increasing attentions owing to their wide study and application. However, little is known on the influence of length and functional groups on SWCNT cytotoxicity. In this study, six types of SWCNTs with different functional groups (pristine, carboxyl group and hydroxyl group) and lengths (1-3 μm and 5-30 μm) were chosen. Cytotoxicities in human hepatoma HepG2 cells induced by these SWCNTs were compared based on cell viability, oxidative stress, plasma membrane fluidity and ABC transporter activity assays. Results showed that all the SWCNTs decreased cell viability of HepG2, increased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, and damaged plasma membrane in a concentration-dependent manner. Long SWCNTs had stronger cytotoxic effects than short SWCNTs, which might be due to weaker aggregation for the long SWCNTs. Functionalization changed the toxic effects of the SWCNTs, and different influence was found between long SWCNTs and short SWCNTs. Moreover, the six types of SWCNTs at low concentrations changed plasma membrane fluidity, inhibited transmembrane ABC transporter (efflux pump) activity, and acted as chemosensitizer to improve the sensitivity of cells to arsenic, indicating the chemosensitive effect should be considered as toxic endpoint of SWCNTs. Comparison of different toxic endpoints among the six types of SWCNTs showed that short hydroxyl-SWCNT might be safer than other SWCNTs. This study provides insights into toxicities of SWCNTs, which is of great value for the risk assessment and application of SWCNTs.