Galleria mellonella Larvae as an In Vivo Model to Evaluate the Toxicity of Polymeric Nanocapsules

Author(s)

Ce, Rodrigo ^{[1, 2]} ; Silva, Rodrigo Campos ^{[1, 2]} ; Trentin, Danielle Silva ^[3] ; Barreto De Marchi, Joao Guilherme ^{[1, 2]} ; Paese, Karina ^{[1, 2]} ; Guterres, Silvia Staniscuaski ^{[1, 2]} ; Macedo, Alexandre Jose ^{[1, 2]} ; Pohlmann, Adriana Raffin ^{[1, 4, 2]}

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Fed Rio Grande do Sul, Fac Farm, Programa Posgrad Ciencias Farmaceut, Av Ipiranga 2752, BR-90610000 Porto Alegre, RS - Brazil

^[2] Univ Fed Rio Grande do Sul, Ctr Biotecnol, Av Ipiranga 2752, BR-90610000 Porto Alegre, RS - Brazil

^[3] Univ Fed Ciencias Saude Porto Alegre, Programa Posgrad Biociencias, Rua Sarmento Leite 245, BR-90050170 Porto Alegre, RS - Brazil

^[4] Univ Fed Rio Grande do Sul, Inst Quim, Dept Quim Organ, Av Bento Goncalves 9500, BR-91501970 Porto Alegre, RS - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology; v. 20, n. 3, p. 1486-1494, MAR 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Galleria mellonella larvae is an invertebrate that has been extensively used as experimental model in the investigation of microbial virulence and efficacy of antimicrobial agents and can be used to provide faster and cheaper data than traditional test systems. Our objective was to propose the use of G. mellonella larvae as an in vivo model to evaluate the toxicity of lipid-core nanocapsule (LNC) formulations having different surface coatings. Blank LNC formulations were coated with polysorbate 80 (LNC-1), lecithin and polysorbate 80 (LNC-2), and lecithin, chitosan and polysorbate 80 (LNC-3). Subsequently, the formulations were systemically administered to G. mellonella larvae at doses of 3.75 x 10(-14), 3.75 x 10(-13), 3.75 x 10(-12), 3.75 x 10(-11) and 3.75 x 10(-10) mols of LNC per kg of larvae. The results demonstrated that those nanocapsules having neutral (LNC-1), negative (LNC-2) or positive (LNC-3) surface did not show acute toxicity effects in G. mellonella larvae. G. mellonella larvae is a viable and promising alternative for in vivo nanotoxicological studies. We conclude that G. mellonella larvae can be used as an alternative model for the screening of the toxicity of polymeric nanocapsules functionalized with (i) polysorbate 80, (ii) lecithin and polysorbate 80, and (iii) lecithin, chitosan and polysorbate 80. Future studies can be now developed in order to evaluate their toxicity when loaded or functionalized with drugs. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/50928-2 - INCT 2014: Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology: a transdisciplinary approach
• Grantee: Maria Vitória Lopes Badra Bentley
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants