KAPIL DEV, GAUTAM KAUL AND SUMAN DHANDA*
Department of Biochemistry, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra-136 119 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : dhanda.suman999@gmail.com, ssingh@kuk.ac.in; Mobile : 94160 69913)
(Received : January 25, 2020; Accepted : March 15, 2020)
ABSTRACT
Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) attained attention due to their unique properties and multi-disciplinary uses throughout the world. In vitro cytotoxic effect of
different concentrations (1-200 µg/ml) of MWCNTs and MSNPs was evaluated on caprine spermatozoa by neutral red uptake (NUR) assay. MWCNTs treatment decreased the sperm viability in dose and time dependent manner (P<0.05), whereas MSNPs did not have any adverse effect. MSNPs was thus relatively safe even at higher concentration after 3 h as compared to MWCNTs and thus open avenues for their potential applications in variety of fields viz., agriculture, electronics, biomedicine and public health.
Key words : MWCNTs, MSNPs, nanotechnology, cytotoxicity, caprine spermatozoa