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

Copper (II) oxide nanoparticle (CuO-NP) is extensively used in a wide variety of industrial and biomedical applications. Reduced size of Copper oxide (CuO) particles from micron to nanoscale caused superior physical characteristics on one side while making them cytotoxic on another side. Therefore there is an urgent need to examine the cytotoxicity of CuO NP. The present study evaluated the toxic effects of CuO-NPs exposure on peripheral blood cells (PBMCs). PBMCs were exposed to different concentrations 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. The results of this study indicated 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 a cell’s membrane damage and also cell apoptosis was observed. In conclusion, the results of this study showed the concentration-dependent toxicity of CuO-NPs on PBMCs.