Uptake
The biological effect of materials or substances depends on their ability of reaching the body or rather the organs and cells inside the body. Detection of the uptake in the respective organism is an essential factor in evaluating nanomaterials and nanoparticles. Like in the case of other substances, nanomaterials are taken up depending on how they occur in the environment (as free particles, bound in another substance e.g., as reinforcements in plastics; distributed in a liquid e.g., as constituents of lubricants or oils). Basically, there are three pathways for all substances, including free nanoparticles, to get into the human body: Via the air during inhalation (inhalatively), via the digestive tract (orally), or via the skin (dermally).
updated on 02.04.2012
Inhalative Uptake
Nanoparticles are very lightweight particles that do not deposit easily and rather tend to remain in the air. In view of many experts, the lung, therefore, is the main uptake organ. Basically, finest particles (as a rule < 3 µm in diameter, which is 20 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair) can get through to the deepest regions of the lung to reach the alveoles. Since this is the part of the lung where the vital gas exchange takes place, deposition of airborne particles in that area can be problematic depending on the dose that has been taken up.
updated on 02.04.2012
Oral Uptake
Any substance that is not needed by the body is transported to the bowels to be disposed of before reaching any other parts of the body. Consequently, particles that are taken up via the food are excreted via the stool. There are three large body barriers: The skin, the lung, and the mucous membrane of the bowels. Nanoparticles of natural or synthetic origin are basically assumed to be able to overcome the intestinal barrier via one or the other pathway (endocytosis via the M cells, persorption: Uptake via dead cells at the tip of the villus). The transport rate or bioavailability is rated very low (rarely more than 1% of the respective dose). However, it may increase due to inflammatory diseases that disturb the function of the intestinal barrier. As a matter of fact, there is a certain demand for nanotoxicological studies of the pathway of oral absorption via the intestinal mucous membrane in addition to studies of the skin or the lung.
updated on 02.04.2012
Dermal Uptake
Substances can also be taken up through the skin, for example through transdermal plasters. The skin, therefore, is another gate though which nanoparticles may enter. The European research project NANODERM has investigated these issues comprehensively and has analyzed nanostructured TiO2 and ZnO that are contained in many sun creams as a protection against carcinogenic UV light. The project has shown that in spite of the smallness of the particles or agglomerates, the skin is a very good barrier that leaves no particles/agglomerates through to the deeper layers. Since the skin is covered with up to twelve layers of dead corneal cells, no living cells can come into contact with the nanostructured particles.
updated on 02.04.2012
Transport of nanoparticles across the placenta
The rapidly developing field of nanotechnology has led to an increase of new diagnostic- and therapeutic strategies, which intend to inject nanoparticles directly into the blood stream e.g. improvement of imaging process for tumour diagnosis or via drug delivery approach to improve the efficiency of treatment and in the same time reducing potential side effects. Once the particles are in the blood stream they bypassed the classical barriers and new so far not affected barrier tissues became more important such as the placenta.
more...
|
The placental tissue is a tightly regulated tissue, which regulates the gas exchange between mother and the foetus and keeps the two circulations separated from each other. In the last trimester of pregnancy the exchange area between mother and embryo becomes thinner and the number of foetal capillaries increases. These changes lead to a progressively enhanced efficiency of maternal-foetal exchange during the development of the foetus. Smaller molecules diffuse across the placental barrier whereas molecules with high molecular weight were actively transported by specified transporter systems. First indications that nanosized materials may cross the placental tissue came from animal studies done with mice or rats. However these data cannot be extrapolated to humans because anatomy and physiology of the human placenta are unique. With the human ex vivo placenta perfusion model [1] a controlled system for studying the transplacental transport it was shown that nanoparticles may have the potential to cross the human placental barrier. The underlying mechanism how the particles find their way across the human placenta is still part of the on-going research.
Literature
-
Wick, P et al 2010. Environ Health Perspect. 118(3): 432–436
updated on 02.04.2012
Uptake - Environmental Organisms
In principle, the same conditions apply for the uptake of nanoparticles to humans and environmental organisms but because of their diversity of there are much more possibilities for an uptake by organisms.
more...
Thus additional routes like gills, the respiration organs of aquatic organisms, have to be taken into account. Depending on the preferred habitat of the organism nanoparticles are absorbed from the water, the ground or the air. It has been detected in laboratory experiments that pumpkin plants can absorb these nanoparticles from the water through their roots. When small crabs were held in water containing carbon nanotubes, bundles of these nanotubes became apparent in their digestive tract after some time. There is also some evidenve that nanoparticles can be harmful without an uptake into a cell, e.g on bacteria.
Literature
-
Gontier, E et al 2008. Nanotoxicology, 2, 4, 218-231.
-
Zhu H et al 2008. J Environ Monit. 10, 713-717.
-
Templeton RC et al. 2006. Environ Sci Technol 40, 7387-7393.
updated on 02.04.2012
