The Investigation of the Cytotoxicity of Copper Oxide Nanoparticles on Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells

Copper (II) oxide nanoparticle (CuO-NP) is extensively used in wide variety of industrial and biomedical applications. Reduced size of Copper oxide (CuO) particles from micron to nano scale caused superior physical characteristics on one side while making them cytotoxic on other side. Therefore there is an urgent need to assess the toxicity of CuO NP. This study was aimed to evaluate the toxic effects of CuO-NPs exposure on peripheral blood cells (PBMCs). PBMCs were exposed to different concentration of CuO-NPs (0, 1, 10, 50, 100, 200 µg/ml), and cytotoxicity was investigated using MTT assay for cell viability, LDH Assay for cell membrane damage and Acridine orange/propidium iodide staining for cell apoptosis. Results of the present study showed that CuO-NPs exert concentration-dependent toxicity on peripheral blood cells. While low concentration of CuO-NPs (1 µ g / ml) did not affected cells viability, higher concentrations (≥10μg / ml) reduced cell viability (up to %27.01 for 200 μg / ml). Moreover, LDH leakage at ≥1μg / ml showed cells membrane damage and also cell apoptosis was observed. In conclusion results of the present study, showed the concentration-dependent toxicity of CuO-NPs on PBMCs.