Evaluation of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles - induced in vivo toxicity in Drosophila melanogaster

• Published in: Applied surface science 2019-08, Vol.484, p.568-577
• Main Authors: Dan, Pallavi, Sundararajan, Vignesh, Ganeshkumar, Harsana, Gnanabarathi, Barathan, Subramanian, Arun Kumar, Venkatasubu, G. Devanand, Ichihara, Sahoko, Ichihara, Gaku, Sheik Mohideen, Sahabudeen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Drosophila; Drug delivery; Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles; Reactive oxygen species; Toxicity
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2019.04.120

Hydroxyapatite (HAp), a compound similar in composition to human hard tissues such as bone and teeth, has widespread applications in bulk as well as nanoparticle form in numerous fields due to excellent biocompatibility and stability. The increased use of this nanoparticle thus warrants the study of its toxic potential in in vivo models. In this study, the toxicity induced by HAp NPs administered via the oral route using Drosophila as an in vivo model was investigated. Biochemical assays such as lipid peroxidation and nitro blue tetrazolium assay did not reveal toxicity at lowest (10 μg/ml) as well as highest (1000 μg/ml) doses. The HAp nanoparticle-treated flies and larvae did not exhibit signs of behavioral change as evidenced from the negative geotaxis assay and larvae crawling assay, respectively. Survival assay to assess the chronic toxicity of HAp nanoparticles also did not reveal any signs of toxicity at both lowest and highest doses. This demonstrates that hydroxyapatite nanoparticles do not elicit significant in vivo toxicity. Considering the paucity of studies available to support the non-toxic effect of HAp nanoparticles, further investigations are warranted in Drosophila and other in vivo models. Moreover, such HAp nanoparticles can also serve as reliable carrier for drug delivery system. [Display omitted] •We investigated the toxicity of HAP NPs that can be used as drug loaded carriers using Drosophila melanogaster.•Biochemical assays did not show any toxicity at 10µg/ml and 1000µg/ml of the HAp NPs.•HAp NPs did not affect the crawling and climbing pattern of the larvae and the adult flies respectively.•No signs of toxicity were revealed both at highest and the lowest dose.•Drug loading and release profile studies showed that HAp NPs can be used as a model for drug delivery system in future.