The comparison of different zinc oxide nanoparticle doses on blood cholesterol and HDL levels in rats

Objectives: Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO) have strong cytotoxicity. ZnO nanoparticles are used for industrial and domestic purposes; therefore their release into the environment will lead to the adverse effects on humans. Here we investigated toxicity effect of zinc oxide nanoparticles on blood cholesterol and HDL in wistar rats.Materials Methods: In this study, 70 female rats weighting approximately 150-200 grams were provided. They were divided into seven groups with 10 numbers including control, sham treated with saline and five groups received different doses of zinc oxide nanoparticles including 4,8,25,100 and 200 mg/kg body weight by intraperitoneal injection twice a week for four weeks.Results Conclusion: Increasing of zinc oxide nanoparticles was associated with increases blood cholesterol levels. There was a significant difference between 100 and 200 mg/kg doses with other groups. The average HDL was decreased with increasing of ZnO nanoparticles. In 100 and 200 mg/kg groups observed a significant difference compared with other groups. (p 0.05) It seems that ZnO nanoparticles increased blood cholesterol for compensate hypoproteinemia and maintain blood pressure. Also blood levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL) decreased due to nanoparticles which lead to negative proportional changes on blood lipid profile.