Effect of Albumin on Behaviour of Silver Nanoparticles in Biological Media

Research and development in the area of nanoscience and nanotechnology offer new opportunities for making superior nanomaterials (NMs) having an enormous economic potential for new drugs and medical treatments, electronics, and environmental remediation. Due to the large production volume of NMs, manufactured nanoparticles (NPs), the primary building blocks of NMs, may be released into the environment during handling, washing, disposal or abrasion, thus, raising concerns about potential toxic effects of NMs on the environment and human health. In biological fluids, NPs may associate with proteins that largely define the biological identity of the particle, contributing also to unwanted biological side effects. Despite a large number of in vitro or in vivo studies on the toxicity of various NPs, strict physicochemical data on the primary steps of their stability and behaviour in biological media are still missing. The purpose of this study was to analyze the dispersability of silver NPs under conditions close to body fluids.