Analysis of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles induced genotoxicity on human peripheral lymphocytes: comparison of size and organic grafting-dependent effects

Abstract

We aimed to detect the potential genotoxic effects of CoFe2O4 particles (CoFe), of different size, by means of the micronucleus test (MN) in human lymphocytes for the possible use in hyperthermic treatments. CoFe of 5.6 nm (CoFe06) showed a significant decrease of the cytokinesis blocked proliferation index (CBPI) (p<0.05), in parallel to a significant increase in the frequency of micronucleated binucleated lymphocytes (BNMN) (p<0.05). For CoFe of 10 µm (CoFe10) a significant increase in BNMN was found, but any cytotoxic effect. For larger CoFe particles of 120 µm (CoFe120) any significant effect in both indices was detected. To verify if these effects could be triggered by the release in the medium of Co2+ source, we organically grafted CoFe06 (CoFe06Lig) to analyze if there was a reduction of the Co+2-induced toxic effect. CoFe06Lig showed still a statistically significant genotoxic effect (p<0.05), but 4-fold less than that observed for the same NP, but ‘naked’.