Mesoporous silica nanoparticles reduce aflatoxin-induced cell damage

Resumo

One major mycotoxin affecting human and animal health is the Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), a toxin
produced mainly by Aspergillus strains. It is well established that AFB1 cytotoxicity might
contribute to DNA adducts formation and the ability to cause oxidative damage. The toxicity
studies of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) with AFB1 using NIH3T3 cells and
hemolysis test were investigated in the current work. The obtained MSNs (39.97±7.85) presents
various shapes and higher BET surface area. The results showed no reduction of the cell
viability occurred after the MSNs treatment (0.5–2.0 mg/mL) using NIH3T3 cells. Moreover,
MSNs treatment completely reversed the cytotoxic effect of AFB1 at all concentrations. It been
known that the aflatoxins have been linked to hemolytic anemia and have led to the destruction
of erythrocytes (hemolysis). Our study evaluated the impact of the MSNs on human red blood
cells (RBCs) using a standard hemolysis assay, which revealed no hemolysis in the MSNs
evaluated alone and in those combined with AFB1. The reduction of the aflatoxin-induced cell
damage occurs mainly due the adsorption capacity already verified by same authors in previous
studies, which AFB1 was adsorbed in the first minutes in contact with the MSNs, reaching up
to an adsorption capacity of ~70% after 15 minutes. Our study indicates that MSNs do not affect
the viability of NIH3T3 cells in vitro and display high blood biocompatibility. Moreover, the
application of MSNs led to a reduction in cytotoxicity caused by AFB1 in NIH3T3 cells in vitro,
which might also positively influence different kinds of cells in vivo due to their high adsorption
capacity.