Acute toxicity and in vivo biodistribution of monodispersed mesoporous bioactive glass spheres in intravenously exposed mice

The use of biomaterials from laboratories to clinics requires exhaustive and elaborate studies involving the biodistribution, clearance, and biocompatibility of biomaterials for in vivo biomedical applications. This study aimed to evaluate the acute toxicity and biodistribution of intravenously administrated sub-micrometer mesoporous bioactive glass spheres (SMBGs) in mice. The lethal dose 50 (LD50) of SMBGs was higher than 250 mg/kg. The acute toxicity was evaluated at 14 days after intravenous injection of SMBGs at 20, 100 and 180 mg/kg in ICR mice. The mortality, coefficients of major organs, hematology data and blood biochemical indexes revealed the low in vivo toxicity of SMBGs at all doses. However, the histological examination showed lymphocytic infiltration and granuloma formation in hepatocyte and megakaryocyte hyperplasia in the spleen at high dose. The silicon content analysis using ICP-OES and TEM results indicated that SMBGs mainly distributed in the resident macrophages of the liver and spleen, and could be cleared from the body more than 2 weeks. These findings can be important for the toxicity assessment of sub-micrometer particles and the development of bioactive glass based drug delivery system for biomedical applications. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.