The in vitro and in vivo toxicity of gold nanoparticles

Abstract Gold nanoparticles, owing to their unique physicochemical and optical properties, well-established synthetic methods and easy modifications, have been widely used in biomedical science. Therefore, for their safe and efficient applications, much attention has been given to the toxicological evaluations of gold nanoparticles in biological systems. A large number of studies focusing on this problem have been carried out during the past years. However, the researches on gold nanoparticles toxicity still remain fragmentary and even contradictory with each other. This may be caused by the variety in experimental conditions. In this review, we aim to provide a better understanding about the in vitro and in vivo toxicity of gold nanoparticles by reviewing and describing the up to date literatures related to this problem and we mainly focused on these properties such as the particle size and shape, the surface charge and modification. Besides, we also summarized the adverse effect of gold nanoparticles on immune systems and analyzed the origin of the toxicity.