Induction of inflammatory responses and gene expression by intratracheal instillation of silver nanoparticles in mice

The adverse effects of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) to human and environment have not been known well, although AgNPs are now widely applicated to consumer products. In this study, we investigated the inflammatory responses including cytokine production and gene expression in mice after a single intratracheal instillation of AgNPs. As results, pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1, TNF-a, and IL-6) and Th0 cytokine (IL-2) were progressively increased by the day 28 after a single instillation. The secretion of Th2 type cytokine was more dominant than that of Th1 type cytokine, and the increase of B cell distribution was also observed. But, histopathological changes in lung were observed only at day 1 after instillation. We identified the changes of gene expression induced by AgNPs in lung tissue using microarray. The 261 genes related to inflammation and tissue damages including Saa3, Krt 13, Lor, Krtdap, and Lcn 2 were up-regulated by over 2 fold, while 103 genes including H2-Ea, Chka, BC030476, Heg1 and Hbb-b1 were down-regulated. Based on the data, it is suggested that AgNPs may induce Th2 type dominant inflammatory responses and tissue damage in the lung of mice.