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.
