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Comparative Toxic Effect of Bulk Copper Oxide (CuO) and CuO Nanoparticles on Human Red Blood Cells

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Abstract

Destruction of red blood cell is associated with anemia and other pathological status; hence, the hemolytic effects of all chemicals and particles which come into contact with blood components must be considered. Nanomaterials and nanoparticles are potential substitutes for common material and particles, and assessment of their effect on blood components is a necessary part of their safety evaluation. High surface-to-volume ratio of nanoparticles may cause their toxic effects differ from those observed for bulk material. The aim of this study was to compare the hemolytic effects of CuO nanoparticles and bulk CuO. Red blood cells were isolated from blood of healthy subjects and hemolytic effects assayed following treatment of cells with 0.005–0.25 mM of CuO (bulk and nanoparticles) for 6 h. For assessment of other parameters, cells were incubated with 0.01, 0.05, and 0.25 mM of CuO nanoparticles and bulk CuO for 1, 2, and 3 h. Our results demonstrate that CuO nanoparticles, in particular, caused toxic hemolytic effects in concentration-dependent manner, and this effect maybe through formation of ROS, glutathione depletion, and lipid peroxidation. In conclusion, CuO nanoparticles are shown to effectively destruct human red blood cells in comparison to bulk CuO.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Jalal Pourahmad

  2. Department of Chemistry, Faculty Of Science, Qom University, Qom, Iran

    Maryam Salami

  3. Medical Plants Research Center, Basic Health Sciences Institute, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran

    Mohammad Hadi Zarei

Authors
  1. Jalal Pourahmad
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  2. Maryam Salami
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  3. Mohammad Hadi Zarei
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Contributions

Jalal Pourahmad and Mohammad Hadi Zarei: Project administration, Writing–review and editing, Methodology, study conception, and design; Maryam Salami: Writing–original draft, Formal analysis, Material preparation.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohammad Hadi Zarei.

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This research was done in Shahid Beheshti University of medical science (SBMU) at faculty of pharmacy and given ethical approval by research ethic committee of SBMU. After became aware of our investigation, donors are asked to fill out the approval form.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Pourahmad, J., Salami, M. & Zarei, M.H. Comparative Toxic Effect of Bulk Copper Oxide (CuO) and CuO Nanoparticles on Human Red Blood Cells. Biol Trace Elem Res 201, 149–155 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-022-03149-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-022-03149-y

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