Abstract

Nanomaterials provide great potential of commercial benefits but some of them have been claimed to be toxic in in vivo and in vitro tests. Although different nanomaterials have been assessed and proposed as drug-delivery carriers, information on possible mechanisms of their toxicity is insufficient. The liver is the target organ after oral, intravenous or dermal exposure of nanoparticles. We investigated the cytotoxicity and oxidative effects of mesoporous silica nanoparticles MCM-41, empty or loaded with sulfadiazineаs model drug, in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells HepG2.  As observed in the Alamar blue -test and LDH-leakage, MCM-41 nanoparticles were non cytotoxic in HepG2 cells in the concentration to 0.2 mg/ml. The toxicity slightly increased at the higher concentrations of 1.0 mg/ml. These favorable effects were in accordance with intracellular oxidative stress levels, measured by reactive oxygen radical formation (ROS) in HepG2 cell.