Sub-Acute Toxicity Study of Graphene Oxide in the Sprague-Dawley Rat

作者：Yingbo Li, Yan Wang, Liu Tu, Di Chen, Zhi Luo, Dengyuan Liu, Zhuang Miao, Gang Feng, Qing Li, Shali Wang · 发表于：International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · 年份：2016 · DOI：10.3390/ijerph13111149 · 被引用次数：39 · 研究领域：Graphene and Nanomaterials Applications、Nanoparticles: synthesis and applications、Carbon and Quantum Dots Applications

Graphene oxide (GO) is an oxidized derivative of graphene used in biotechnology and medicine. The safety of GO is uncertain, so we evaluated its toxicity in male rats. Rat tail veins were injected with 2.5, 5, or 10 mg/kg GO for seven days and behavioral patterns, pathology, and tissue morphology were assessed. Data show that behaviors were not altered according to an open field test and a functional observational battery test, but histopathological analysis indicated that GO caused inflammation of the lung, liver, and spleen. GO also reduced cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL), and low density lipoprotein (LDL). No other organs were modified. Thus, high concentrations of GO are toxic for the lung, liver, and spleen, but the mechanism by which this occurs requires more study.