Vol. 12, Issue 3 (2023)

Author(s):
Muralidhar Yegireddy, Prakash Nadoor, Suguna Rao, Pavithra BH, Rashmi R, Santhosh CR, Girish MH, Sravanthi M, Prasad TNVKV, Shivaprasad GR, Vaibhavi K, Patel TGV and Reddy CV

Abstract:
Rising interest in the development of therapies based on nanomaterials (NM) and their size-dependent effects has increased significantly in recent times, but the safety of NMs remains a concern due to the limited animal studies. In the current study the safety of synthesized chitosan encapsulated meloxicam nanoparticles (CEMNPs) was evaluated by both in vitro and in vivo methods. The cytotoxicity assay was carried out by using murine spleenocytes revealed that both CEMNPs and MLX did not alter the cell viability even at the highest concentration (100 ppm) applied. In vivo safety evaluation was carried out in male Wistar rats by randomly dividing into five groups of six rats each. Group-I served as untreated control, while Group-II meloxicam (MLX) (1 mg.kg^-1 b. wt.; p. o) for a period of 21 days. Experimental rats in Group-III and Group-IV received 1 mg.kg^-1 b.wt. and 0.2 mg.kg^-1 b.wt. of CEMNPs, respectively for a similar duration. Experimental rats in Group-V received chitosan nanoparticles (CNPs) @ 1 mg.kg^-1 b.wt (P.o) alone for a similar duration. There was no significant change in the enzymatic - and non-enzymatic antioxidant status or peroxidative injury in liver, spleen, testis and kidney of different experimental groups of rats. The histopathological examination of these organs revealed apparently normal architecture and comparable to that of control group, thus there was no treatment specific effect. To conclude the synthesized CEMNPs compounds did not show toxicity in vitro or in vivo and appears safe. However, long-term toxicity studies are necessary before therapeutic exploitation.