| Nanomaterials: toxicity, effect and risks for human health |
| Transition to nano size state of organic
and inorganic materials is one the most important features of the
modern stage of science and technology development. Active development of nanomaterial production and application causes environmental pollution, nanomaterial penetration into human organism and as a result, impact on the human health. Nanoparticle have the ability to penetrate through normal organism protective barriers: gastric, placental, hemato encephalitic ones. Evolution did not create any protection mechanisms from substance properties which could not practically be found in traditional environment. Though nanomaterials and nanotechnologies are used for more than 10 years already, none of them was studied enough to evaluate objectively health risks associated with nanomaterials and regulate nanoparticle permissible content in the environmental components. Theoretical prerequisites and limited experimental data which might be found in literature testify both qualitative and quantitative peculiarities of nanoparticle deleterious effect on the organism in comparison with well studied powders and occupational dusts in which substance bulk is micro particles. Very large nanomaterial specific surface and its specific properties cause intensification of primary toxicity mechanisms connected with processes of substance dissolution, bio macromolecules sorbtion, membrane interaction. Size of nanoparticles change essentially kinetics of substance distribution in the organism and provide their biologically significant accumulation in target cells and sub cell structures which are unavailable for micro particles of the same substance. Thus very much so that even practically nonsoluble and low toxic substances which did not cause serious hygienic problems in nano state would appear to be essential health risk factor. Investigation of nanomaterial impact on human organism, nanoparticle degradation while interaction with biological material, nanomaterial impact on metabolic processes in living organisms and development of methods providing this information is very important and up-to-date. Immune system which is structurally and functionally organized set of limfoid cells cooperatively interacting with each other and auxiliary cell elements on independent immunogenesis stage, might serve as indicator reflecting nanomaterial impact on the human organism. Organism, antioxidant protection state, prevention of lipid peroxide oxidation and other cell degradation processes are of great importance in this case. Application of investigation methods of oxidant stress and organism antioxidant protection application as integral index and as evaluation instrument of medical treatment effectiveness, safety and adequacy (including pharmacotherapy, cell therapy, target medicine delivery with the use of nanomaterials) appears to be essential. Thus, investigation of antioxidant activity (AOA) of biological objects might become powerful instrument of diagnostics and nanotechnologies safety evaluation. Now following works are carried out:
Works are carried out in collaboration with:
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