Assessment of the Biodistribution and Acute Toxicity of

Assessment of the Biodistribution and Acute Toxicity of Gold Nanoparticles Clinton Rambanapasi 1, Nicola Barnard 1, Hylton Buntting 1, Hendrik S. Steyn 2, Anine Jordaan 3, Molahlehi Sonopo 4, Jan Rijn Zeevaart 1, 4, Anne F. Grobler 1 1 DST/NWU Preclinical Drug Development Platform 2 Statistical Consultation Services 3 Laboratory for Electron Microscopy, CRB 4 Radiochemistry Department, South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (SOC) Ltd

Outline Introduction Synthesis In vivo Work Results Questions 2

Introduction • Nanotechnology • Nanomedicine • Nanocarriers • Engineered Nanomaterials as nanocarriers • Gold Nanoparticles 3

Introduction • Gold Nanoparticles (Au. NP) are promising candidates as; – Nanocarriers in drug and gene delivery – Sensors for diagnostics • Ease of functionalization • Safety concerns • Need to understand; – Biodistribution profiles – Toxicity Fig 1 Citrate Coated Au. NP 4

Synthesis Fig 2 Radiochemical Synthesis of Citrate Coated Au. NP 5

Physico-chemical Characteristics Fig 3 Size and morphology of synthesized Au. NPs. Inserted graph: primary size distribution determined using Image. J Table 1 Zetasizer Nano results Fig 4 UV-Vis spectrum of the synthesized 198 Au. NPs showing the characteristic peak between 520 and 530 nm 6

Dosimetry 7

In vivo Work NWU Ethics Approval #: NWU-00012 -13 -A 5 8

Biodistribution profile 9

Hematuria 10

Are Au. NPs safe? • Based on this study – Might not be as safe – More studies • Elucidation of mechanisms • Based on literature – No consensus – Indications of hepatotoxicity 11

Questions 12

Thank you 13

12 Male Sprague Dawley Rats n=4 Group 1 90 µg intravenous Group 2 9 µg intravenous 14 Group 3 90 µg oral