Abstract:
Background: Nanoparticles are recently playing a potential role in improving drug uptake and the
treatment of diseases. A variety of nanoparticles, such as selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) and
Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been used as drug carriers in various ways for treatment of
cancers and liver diseases. Our aim in this study is to investigate the ability of AgNPs and SeNPs
to target and treat the viral and bacterial infection of liver in rats and cell lines.
Methods: For assessment of antioxidant activity of silver nanoparticles, six adult male albino rats
were included in this study, liver slices were taken and assigned to 6 groups. Markers of hepatic
functions, oxidative stress and inflammation in liver slices are carried out. While for assessment
of antiviral activity of SeNPs, HBV-replicating human cell line HepG2 and normal human cell
lines were used, hepatic and inflammatory alterations are determined through quantitative
polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and comet assay techniques.
Results: The effect of Ag-NPs on interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) levels
were reduced in different treated groups with Ag-NPs compared with the control and diseased
groups. On the other hand, SeNPs revealed significant alterations in the inflammatory markers as
well as DNA damage in the treated HBV- human cell line HepG2 compared to the diseased ones.
Conclusion: Silver nanoparticles have the ability for producing various hepatic alterations and can
inhibit the proliferation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) in a dose and size dependent manner. On
the other hand, SeNPs showed excellent selectivity towards viral cells in the HepG2 cell lines.
Both Ag-NPs and SeNPs might be a promising drug design for treating viral and bacterial liver
diseases.
