Abstract
Silver nanoparticles (AgNP) have gained access to our daily life, resulting in exponential and inevitable human exposure, namely by the oral route. Despite this, the adverse effects of AgNP on intestinal cells are still unexplored. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the potentially toxic and pro-inflammatory effects of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-coated AgNP (5 and 50 nm) in intestinal epithelial C2BBe1 cells. For this purpose, the effects of PVP-AgNP on cellular metabolic activity and viability, and also on the expression levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase and iкBα, were evaluated. It was observed a decrease in cellular metabolic activity, associated with the occurrence of early and late apoptotic events, for the 50 nm PVP-AgNPs. The expression levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase and iкBα levels increased and decreased, respectively, after exposure to 50 nm PVP-AgNP. Ultimately, it was also observed an increase in nitric oxide levels. Therefore, it can be concluded that the larger PVP-AgNP induce prominent activation of a putative inflammatory response by intestinal cells. However, further studies are needed to disclose the mechanistic pathways involved in the intestinal pro-inflammatory effects of AgNP.
Supplementary Materials
The poster can be downloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/ECMC2022-13196/s1.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization, A.S., M.F. and E.F.; methodology, A.S. and A.R.; validation, M.F., F.C. and E.F.; formal analysis, A.S., M.F. and E.F.; investigation, A.S. and M.F.; writing—original draft preparation, A.S.; writing—review and editing, A.S., A.R., F.C., E.F. and M.F.; supervision, M.F., F.C. and E.F.; project administration, M.F.; funding acquisition, M.F. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding
This work received support from PT national funds (FCT/MCTES, Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior) through the projects UIBD/50006/2020 and UIDP/50006/2020. AS thanks FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) and ESF (European Social Fund) through POCH (Programa Operacional Capital Humano) for her PhD grant reference SFRH/BD/150656/2020. MF acknowledges her contract under the Scientific Employment Stimulus - Individual Call (CEEC Individual) 2020.04126.CEECIND/CP1596/CT0006 and also to LAQV/REQUIMTE her contract under the reference LA/P/0008/2020.
Institutional Review Board Statement
Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement
Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement
The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to the fact that it has not yet been published.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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