Premium
Comet assay reveals no genotoxicity risk of cationic solid lipid nanoparticles
Author(s) -
Doktorovova Slavomira,
Silva Amélia M.,
Gaivão Isabel,
Souto Eliana B.,
Teixeira João P.,
MartinsLopes Paula
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of applied toxicology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.784
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1099-1263
pISSN - 0260-437X
DOI - 10.1002/jat.2961
Subject(s) - genotoxicity , comet assay , cationic polymerization , solid lipid nanoparticle , chemistry , comet , environmental chemistry , nanoparticle , environmental health , toxicology , environmental science , toxicity , nanotechnology , dna damage , biochemistry , biology , medicine , materials science , organic chemistry , dna , astrobiology
ABSTRACT Cationic solid lipid nanoparticles (cSLN) are colloidal carriers for genes or drugs, particularly lipophilic drugs. Several reports exist on their high efficiency, but only a few studies report the effect of cSLNs on living cells. In the present work, internalization, cell viability (alamar blue assay) and genotoxic potential (alkaline comet assay) of three cSLN formulations (A–C) were evaluated in HepG2 and Caco‐2 cells. cSLN showed an average hydrodynamic diameter (z‐ave) of 141–222 nm, zeta‐potential of 55.0–72.5 mV and polidispersity indices (PdI) of 0.336–0.421. Dispersion in physiological buffers increased z‐ave and PdI. 0.01 mg ml –1 cSLN unaffected cell viability, but 1.0 mg ml –1 significantly decreased it, being cSLN‐C (Compritol‐based) the most toxic and HepG2 the most affected. DNA damage was not significantly increased by 0.1 mg ml –1 cSLN but damage was observed at 1.0 mg ml –1 cSLN‐C. Thus, no genotoxicity is to be expected at concentrations that do not reduce cell viability. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.