Short- and long-term changes in blood miRNA levels after nanogold injection in rats-potential biomarkers of nanoparticle exposure

Context: Increased use of engineered nanoparticles may result in exposure of workers and consumers, making them a health concern. Objective: To identify potential blood miRNA biomarkers after intravenous gold nanoparticle (AuNP) exposure. Materials and methods: miRNA microarray analysis was carried out on blood of rats at 1 week and 2 months after injection. Results: Many up-and downregulated miRNAs were detected. Of these, rno-miR-298 was confirmed to be increased at 1 week postinjection by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR). Discussion and conclusion: Blood miRNAs could be useful as biomarkers for exposure to nanoparticles. miR-298 regulates beta-amyloid (A beta) precursor protein-converting enzyme-1 (BACE1) in Alzheimer's disease.