An Evaluation of Blood Compatibility of Silver Nanoparticles

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have tremendous potentials in medical devices due to their excellent antimicrobial properties. Blood compatibility should be investigated for AgNPs due to the potential blood contact. However, so far, most studies are not systematic and have not provided insights into the mechanisms for blood compatibility of AgNPs. In this study, we have investigated the blood biological effects, including hemolysis, lymphocyte proliferation, platelet aggregation, coagulation and complement activation, of 20 nm AgNPs with two different surface coatings (polyvinyl pyrrolidone and citrate). Our results have revealed AgNPs could elicit hemolysis and severely impact the proliferation and viability of lymphocytes at all investigated concentrations (10, 20, 40 μg/mL). Nevertheless, AgNPs didn’t show any effect on platelet aggregation, coagulation process, or complement activation at up to ~40 μg/mL. Proteomic analysis on AgNPs plasma proteins corona has revealed that acidic and small molecular weight blood plasma proteins were preferentially adsorbed onto AgNPs, and these include some important proteins relevant to hemostasis, coagulation, platelet, complement activation and immune responses. The predicted biological effects of AgNPs by proteomic analysis are mostly consistent with our experimental data since there were few C3 components on AgNPs and more negative than positive factors involving platelet aggregation and thrombosis.