Investigation of the Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Effect on Thyroid and Testosterone Hormones in Male Rats

Abstract

Exposure to zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) has been increasing steadily, causing more attention being paid to their potential toxicity, including cytotoxicity and genotoxicity. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the effect of ZnO NPs on thyroid hormone triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) as well as testosterone hormone in male adult rats. A total of 54 Sprague-Dawley albino adult male rats were divided into nine groups each of six rats, daily treated intraperitoneal with ZnO NPs two different doses (30 and 60) mg/kg in three different periods of time (7, 14, and 28) days, as following: Control groups (Groups 1, 2, and 3): Respectively received intraperitoneal injection with distilled water for 7, 14, and 28 days, experimental groups (Groups 4, 5, and 6): They were rats, respectively, received intraperitoneal dose (60 mg/kg) of ZnO NPs for (7, 14, and 28) days, and group (7, 8, and 9) experimental groups were rats, respectively, received intraperitoneal dose (30 mg/kg) of ZnO NPs for (7, 14, and 28) days. Data showed high significant decrease (P < 0.01) in level of T3, T4, TSH, and level of testosterone also decrease at high and low dose for 7, 14, and 28 days.