Aims: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the toxicity of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MIONs) which were synthesized using carob leaf extract on various brain areas of Wistar rats.
Main methods: Carob leaf synthesized-MIONs were characterized using different techniques: Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), UV-vis spectrophotometer, Fourier Transform infrared (FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). The toxicity of MIONs in vivo was evaluated by: monitoring rat's body weight, measuring iron content in different brain areas, evaluating some oxidative stress parameters, estimating acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in addition to histopathological investigations.
Key findings: The present study demonstrated no body weight changes of MIONs- treated rats. According to the conditions of the present study, the hippocampus and striatum were the most affected areas and demonstrated neuronal degeneration due to MIONs exposure. MIONs treatment of Wistar rats, also affected the iron homeostasis in both striatum and midbrain by decreasing iron content in these areas. The least affected areas were thalamus and cerebellum. The histopathological examination of brain areas demonstrated moderate neuronal degeneration in hippocampus and striatum, mild neuronal degeneration in cortex and slight degeneration in hypothalamus and pons-medulla areas were detected.
Significance: The results suggested that MIONs have a toxic impact on different brain areas and the effect varies according to the brain area.
Keywords: Carob leaf; Histopathology; Inductively coupled plasma (ICP); Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MIONs); Oxidative stress (OX); Toxicity.
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