Investigating the susceptibility of mice to a bacterial challenge after intravenous exposure to durable nanoparticles

Aim: The goal of this study was to determine whether bacterial clearance in a rodent model would be impaired upon exposure to gold, silver or silica nanoparticles (NPs). Materials & methods: Mice received weekly injections of NPs followed by a challenge of Listeria monocytogenes (LM). On days 3 and 10 after LM injections, the animals were sacrificed and their tissues were collected for elemental analysis, electron microscopy and LM count determination. Results: The untreated and NP-treated animals cleared LM at the same rate suggesting that bioaccumulation of NPs did not increase the animals' susceptibility to bacterial infection. Conclusion: The data from this study indicate that the bioaccumulation of NPs does not significantly affect the ability to react to a bacterial challenge.