Cytotoxicity Evaluation of SilicaNanoparticles and Antibiotic-coatedVariants using a Brine Shrimp LethalityAssay

Abstract

Aim: Nanotechnology has become a promising field in different branches of science, including medicine. Silica
nanoparticle (NP) has unique characteristics, and due to this reason, the potential applications of silica NPs in drug
delivery and therapeutics have been widely studied. However, concerns have been raised about their cytotoxic
effects. This study was performed to investigate the cytotoxicity effects of silica NPs and silica NPs coated
with antibiotics by the Brine Shrimp Lethality assay. Materials and Methods: In this assay, the saline solution
was prepared in a six-well end-loaded split plate with a single 10 brine shrimp nauplii in each well. Various
levels of NPs and their antibiotic-coated counterparts were added to the wells. The plates were incubated at room
temperature for 24 h after which the number of viable nauplii was determined. The collected data were analyzed.
One-way analysis of variance and post hoc tests were used to test the statistical significance. Results: Cytotoxic
effects of different concentrations of nano-silica mixed with different antibiotics were evaluated. In the 5 uL
concentration, there was a non-significant difference in all the groups (P > 0.05). At the 10 μL concentration,
nanosilica ciprofloxacin had the least survival rate which is statistically significant compared to other groups
(P < 0.000). At the highest concentration of 15μL, nanosilica ciprofloxacin showed the lowest survival rate which
is statistically significant compared to other groups (P < 0.000). Conclusion: The results of this study indicate
that even at high concentrations, silica NPs and its antibiotic-coated variants show very low cytotoxic effects on
brine shrimp nauplii. These findings offer useful information for the potential biomedical uses of silica NPs and
their antibiotic-coated variants