Prooxidant and antioxidant activity of blood plasma and histology of internal organs of rats after intravenous administration of magnetite nanoparticles

The effect of a single and multiple intravenous injections of a nanosized magnetite suspension on total prooxidant and antioxidant activity of blood plasma has been investigated by the method of luminoldependent chemoluminescence. Nanoparticles of magnetite exhibited dose-dependent prooxidant properties due to their iron atoms and cause a compensatory activation of antioxidant systems in the rat blood plasma. After a single intravenous administration of magnetite the studied parameters of blood plasma returned to the normal level by the end of the experiment due to elimination of the nanoparticles from the body. In the case of multiple administration of the magnetite suspension the dose-dependent changes in the proand antioxidant plasma activity persisted during the whole experiment. Accumulation of magnetite particles in the cells of the rat mononuclear phagocytic system, liver, lungs and kidneys is associated with hemodynamic disorders, local dystrophic and necrotic changes in the parenchyma of these organs. After a single intravenous injection nanoparticles of magnetite are detected in the rat organs for 40 days, but their number decreases by the end of the experiment.