STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONAL IN VIVO EVALUATION OF EFFECTS OF SINGLE-WALLED CARBON NANOTUBES AND COMPLEX OF VITAMINS A AND E ON THE LIVER IN RATS

Introduction. A review of the literature on nanotechnology shows the advanced development of hygienic research in the field of nanotoxicology to be of fundamental importance, as it allows creating a basis for the introduction of safe production at the design stage of technological processes. The effects of carbon nanotubes (CNT) on the body are evaluated for the use in many different technical applications, including the alleged possibility of their use as a sorbing material in the water treatment process. Material and Methods. Two-weeks intragastric effect of single-walled carbon nanotubes (oUNT) at doses of 0.05 and 0.5 mg/kg and a complex of vitamins A and E (AE) at a dose of 25.3 mg/kg (vitamin E - 25.2 mg/kg and vitamin A - 0.1 mg/kg) on the liver of male Wistar rats, as well as in the same batch of animals three months after a two-week experiment and a single exposure to oUNT at a dose of 5mg/kg were studied in fifteen groups of animals. oUNT was dissolved in sunflower oil at the rate of 0.5 ml of oil per 100 g of body weight. Results. Two-weeks study of oUNT at doses of 0.05 and 0.5 mg/kg and three months after a single exposure at a dose of 5mg/kg revealed no damage to the nucleus of hepatocytes, but three months after a two-week experiment, when exposed to both doses of oUNT, showed a significant increase in this index, as well as indices of fatty degeneration, only in relation to groups of the two-week exposure. Thus, with two-weeks exposure of oUNT, three months after it, as well as three months after a single exposure at a dose of 5 mg/kg the fatty degeneration develops. The effect of the complex of vitamins AE in the two-weeks experiment and three months after it significantly worsens all the studied parameters in the rat liver, and with its complex effect with oUNT indices remain at the same changed level. Discussion. Probably UNT, getting into the digestive tract, cause pathological changes both in the place of direct contact - in the small intestine and in the remote body - the liver, which is consistent with both our data and previous studies. Conclusion. oUNT in different studied periods of exposure causes the development of fatty degeneration in the liver, and the use of vitamins A and E does not reduce the response of the liver damage.