The Iron Oxide Nanorods Toxicity on L929 Cell Line

Major applications of nanotechnology in industry, agriculture, biology and medicine are growing. Given the broad range of nanoscience in medical sciences, evaluation of the cytotoxicity of iron oxide nanorods through comparing viability and apoptosis formed the objectives of this study. In this study, the nanorods were synthesized by coprecipitation method and transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy was used for determination of the size and shape of nanoparticles. 200 and 800 μg/ml urea and polyethylene glycol (PEG) coated nanorods, in forms of modified and non-modified, were assessed for toxicity using MTT assay 48 and 72 hours later. The length and diameter of the urea- and PEG-coated nanorods were 150 and 15 nm and 150 and 23 nm, respectively. Viability of cells exposed to non-modified iron oxide nanorods was less than modified form. This toxicity showed uptrend with increasing dose. Viability of the cells exposed to PEG-coated iron oxide nanorods was lower than urea-coated once. It appears that the increase in apoptosis affected by non-modified iron oxide nanorods might be resulted from formation of protein rings called Hard Corona around the nanorods. In addition, more increase of cell death by PEG-coated nanorods compared to urea-coated nanorods is indicator of the effect of type of coverage and type of cells on their cytotoxicity.