Effect of gold nanoparticle on viral load of hepatitis C virus

The use of gold nanoparticle as an anti-infective agent has been proposed for years[1]. However, many reports mention for its ability counteracting bacteria. Its property against virus has never been systematically evaluated. Here, the authors performed a preliminary in vitro study to assess the effect of gold nanoparticle on viral load of hepatitis C virus (HCV). The standard gold nanoparticle is prepared according to the described method in our previous reports[2,3]. Thirty known blood samples with HCV and known for HCV viral load were used. Each sample was divided into two parts for further experimental treatment. The first part was naively managed without adding anything. The second part was added by gold nanoparticle solution (mixture as 1:1 according to protocol described in the previous report [2,3]). The HCV viral load of each part was determined. The difference between preand post-experimental treatment HCV viral load for each separated part in each sample was calculated. The difference between average difference of preand post-HCV viral load for the first (naïve) and second (gold nanoparticle treated) groups of overall 30 studied samples was statistically analyzed by Students t-test (P<0.05 is considered as statistical significant level). According to the present study, no significant difference between naïve and gold nanoparticle treated groups can be seen. This can be the clue that gold nanoparticle has null effect on HCV virus and should not be used as an anti-infective agent for HCV.