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Comparison of the toxicity of aluminum oxide nanorods with different aspect ratio

  • Nanotoxicology
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Abstract

Aluminum oxide nanoparticles are listed among 14 high-priority nanomaterials published by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, but limited information is available on their potential hazards. In this study, we compared the toxicity of two different aluminum oxide nanorods (AlNRs) commercially available in vivo and in vitro. Considering aspect ratio, one was 6.2 ± 0.6 (long-AlNRs) and the other was 2.1 ± 0.4 (short-AlNRs). In mice, long-AlNRs induced longer and stronger inflammatory responses than short-AlNRs, and the degree reached the maximum on day 7 for both types and decreased with time. In addition, in vitro tests were performed on six cell lines derived from potential target organs for AlNPs, HEK-293 (kidney), HACAT (skin), Chang (liver), BEAS-2B (lung), T98G (brain), and H9C2 (heart), using MTT assay, ATP assay, LDH release, and xCELLigence system. Long-AlNRs generally produced stronger toxicity than short-AlNRs, and HEK-293 cells were the most sensitive for both AlNRs, followed by BEAS-2B cells, although results from 4 kinds of toxicity tests conflicted among the cell lines. Based on these results, we suggest that toxicity of AlNRs may be related to aspect ratio (and resultant surface area). Furthermore, novel in vitro toxicity testing methods are needed to resolve questionable results caused by the unique properties of nanoparticles.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (NRF-2011-35B-E00011). And, this research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and future Planning (2012R1A2A2A01045382).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Science and Technology, Ajou University, Suwon, 443-749, Korea

    Eun-Jung Park & Jae-Ho Kim

  2. School of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, 136-713, Korea

    Gwang-Hee Lee & Dong-Wan Kim

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, Kwangwoon University, Seoul, 139-701, Korea

    Jae-hun Shim & Younghun Kim

  4. College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742, Korea

    Myung-Haing Cho

  5. Toxicologic Pathology Center, Korea Institute of Toxicology, Daejeon, Korea

    Byoung-Seok Lee & Yong-Bum Kim

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  1. Eun-Jung Park
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Correspondence to Eun-Jung Park or Dong-Wan Kim.

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Park, EJ., Lee, GH., Shim, Jh. et al. Comparison of the toxicity of aluminum oxide nanorods with different aspect ratio. Arch Toxicol 89, 1771–1782 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-014-1332-5

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