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Prior to their application in medicine, nanoparticles must be biocompatible and non-toxic. Because they are so small, nanoparticles can enter the body fast and go through a number of different pathways to reach the organs that are intended to be their targets. A range of parameters, including as size, charge, shape, chemistry, and modifications, might influence a nanoparticle's cytotoxicity. In order to assess the toxicity of nanoparticles, this article provides a succinct overview of many in vitro cytotoxicity experiments. Nanoparticle cytotoxicity is a result of their higher surface area to volume ratio. Increased oxidative stress, cellular dysfunction, and ultimately cell death could result from this increased surface area to volume ratio. A wide variety of nanoparticles are covered in this review, including those that are most frequently utilized in biological research as well as those composed of metal and carbon.
Silver nanoparticles, or Ag-NPs, are the talk of the town and have the biggest potential impact when compared to other non-materials. As a result, they are currently going through a period of high demand [1]. Ag-NPs have shown useful in a wide range of industries, such as biotechnology, pharmacology, magnetic fields, engineering, medical devices, and environmental cleaning [2]. Ag-NPs have acquired popularity in a wide range of industries, including but not limited to the textile, food, consumer goods, and medical industries, among others, because of their potent antibacterial action in both solution and component form [3].
Ag-NPs are in great demand across a wide range of sectors due to the fact that, in comparison to bulk materials, they possess different physical and chemical features as well as the potential to inhibit bacterial growth. For example, since Ag-NPs have a larger surface area to volume ratio than bulk particles, they are better able to interact with fluid components of the lung lining such as serum, saliva, and mucus [4]. Bulk particles, on the other hand, have a smaller ratio of surface area to volume. However, the robust oxidative activity of Ag-NPs results in the production of silver ions, which are known to have a broad range of deleterious effects on biological systems, including cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, immunological reactions, and death of cells [5-8]. Colloidal Ag+ that has been activated for medicinal or other reasons could have an effect, either directly or indirectly, on the health of human beings [9]. Because of the increasing usage of Ag-NPs, the concentration of Ag+ in soil has grown by 22.7 ppm, while the increase in the concentration of Ag+ in water has been measured at 0.76 ppm [9, 10]. Unanswered problems include whether or whether Ag-NPs can be safely synthesised, as well as the mechanism by which they function as a disinfectant in the environment. It is still unclear the mechanisms by which Ag-NPs exert their cytotoxicity or the degree to which they may impact human physiology in either the short or long term [11, 12]. There may be cause for worry due to a lack of understanding about the ways in which nanoparticles interact with biological systems [13, 14].
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