Cytotoxicity of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in rat neuroglia cells

Aim: To find the cytotoxicity of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nano-TiO2) posed to neuroglia cells. Methods: This study tested the inhibiting effect of different sized nano-TiO2 on the cell survival rate for rat astrocytes in vitro and in vivo and pathological analysis was also done to evaluate its effect; IL-1 beta, TNF-alpha and IL-10 of rat brain tissue was also examined. Results: In vitro examination, the inhibiting effect of nano-TiO2 on the cell survival rate, was significantly enhanced dose dependently. There were also obvious changes in cellular configuration, such as sparse arrangement, increscent cell spaces, increasing intracellular particles and decreasing cellular transparency. When rats were exposed to nano-TiO2 of 10 and 20 nm in diameter in 1.0 and 10.0 mg kg(-1), the concentrations IL-1 beta, TNF-alpha and IL-10 in brain tissue increased with the dose of nano-TiO2. Pathological observation indicated that the blood-brain barrier was destroyed and resulted in brain tissue necrosis, inflammation and cellular oedema. Conclusions: Nano-TiO2 is toxic to rat neuroglia cells. This toxicity may be related to particle size and the mechanism may be associated with its induction inflammation.