Performance evaluation of radiocontrast agent and plant-based gold nano-particles on rat’s cardiac hemodynamics, hematological, and hepatic functions for post imaging application

One of the main obstacles to the imaging application of the currently available iodinated contrast agent (ICA) is its ability to affect blood circulation in the heart and other organs. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are thus gaining significant attention for use as radiocontrast because of their inert nature to the circulating blood. This study, therefore, compares the performance of plant-based AuNPs and iodine radiocontrast on rat’s cardiac hemodynamics, haematological and hepatic functions. The rats were grouped as untreated (A) and treated (B, C, D and E of three sub-groups respectively). The rats in group A serve as the base control, while those in group B serve as the experimental control. The rats in groups C, D and E received intraperitoneal injections of ICA, P. guajava capped AuNPs, and C. olitorius AuNPs, respectively. Except group A, the rats in B - E were exposed to X-rays at different tube voltages (40, 80 and 120 kV). On day 1 and 30 post-treatment, the rats’ hemodynamics (heart rate (HP), blood pressure (BP) and cardiac electrical activities) were recorded with a non-invasive computerized system. Blood samples were collected and the level of hematological indicators were determined with an auto-hematology analyzer. The level of hepatic functions (protein like the total protein (TP), albumin (ALB), globin (GLB), and total biliru-bin (TBIL) and enzymes like alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransfer-ase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST)) as well as anomalies in the liver tissue morphology were determine following standard laboratory protocols. The findings revealed that the rats treated with the ICA statistically decrease (p<0.05) the values of the HR and BP parameters at 40, 80, and 120 kV of X-rays while those injected with the plant-based AuNPs showed no significant difference in HR and BP. The findings for the cardiac electrical activity also conformed with the results obtained for the HR and BP parameters. The treatment also influenced the level of the hematological indicators irrespective of the voltages on day 1 but returns back to normal on day 30. A significant increase was found in the hepatic enzymes with low protein levels and mild inflammation and dilated sinusoids of tissue morphology in rats treated with ICA compared to those treated with the plant-based AuNPs. Hence, plant-based AuNPs posed no threat to the rat’s cardiac hemodynamics, hematology and hepatic functions and thus offer several bio-medical applications over the iodinated radiocontrast.