In vivo effects of quantum dot on organs development before maturity

Objective(s):  The field of nanotechnology is rapidly expanding .The development quantum dots quantum dot (QDs), show great promise for treatment and diagnosis of cancer and targeted drug delivery little data on the toxicity of QDs, especially for in vivo applications, are available. As a result, concerns exist over their toxicity for in vivo applications. Then, cytotoxic effects of cadmium selenide (CdSe) quantum dots on organs development before maturity were studied in this study.  Materials and Methods:  One month old male Mice treated by injection of CdSe at the doses of 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg. Structural and optical properties of quantum dots were studied by XRD, UV-Vis absorption spectrum and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and the number of cells in seminiferous tubes of various groups were analyzed using SPSS 16 program (one way ANOVA test).  Results:   Histological studies of testis tissue showed high toxicity of cdse in the dose of 40 mg/kg which followed by decrease in lamina propria thickness, destruction in interstitial tissue, deformation of seminiferoustubes, and reduction in number cells. Also histological study of lung tissue showed in 20 and 40 mg/kg doses destruction in interstitial and epithelium tissues.  Conclusion:  On the whole, this study showed high toxicity of cdse on development of testis and lung tissues, even in low doses considering lack of literature review in this field, this study can be an introduction to researches about toxicity effect of quantum dots on development of organs.