Cytotoxicity of titanium dioxide nanoparticles differs in four liver cells from human and rat

• Published in: Composites. Part B, Engineering Engineering, 2011-12, Vol.42 (8), p.2136-2144
• Main Authors: Sha, BaoYong, Gao, Wei, Wang, ShuQi, Xu, Feng, Lu, TianJian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adverse effects; Biological and medical sciences; Carcinogenesis, carcinogens and anticarcinogens; cell viability; Chemical agents; Cytotoxicity; D. Electron microscopy; D. Optical microscopy; exposure duration; glutathione; hepatocytes; hepatoma; humans; Medical sciences; nanocomposites; nanoparticles; rats; reactive oxygen species; titanium dioxide; Tumors
• ISSN: 1359-8368; 1879-1069
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesb.2011.05.009

Titanium dioxide (TiO 2) nanoparticles (NPs) are the important nanoscale components of composites. Although TiO 2 NPs and their related nanocomposites have been widely used in industrial and medical applications, the adverse effects of TiO 2 nanomaterials have not been well studied. Here, we investigated the cytotoxicity of TiO 2 NPs in vitro using four liver cell lines: human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (SMMC-7721), human liver cell line (HL-7702), rat hepatocarcinoma cell line (CBRH-7919) and rat liver cell line (BRL-3A). We checked cell viability, cell morphology, and the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and glutathione (GSH) after TiO 2 exposure at varying concentrations (0.1–100 μg/mL) and different exposure periods of time (12–48 h). Compared to the NP-free control, all four cell lines exposed to TiO 2 NPs showed cytotoxicity in a dosage-dependent and time-dependent manner, which was associated with the changes of cell viability and cell morphology, increased intercellular ROS levels, and decreased intracellular GSH levels. Further, we observed that carcinomatous liver cells and human liver cells exhibited more tolerance to TiO 2 NPs exposure for 24 h, compared to normal liver cells and rat liver cells, respectively. The results indicate that the in vitro cytotoxicity induced by NPs should be assessed with great caution before the use of nanocomposites and that there is a need to standardize the cytotoxicity testing procedure of nanoscale components in composites when using different cell lines.