The use of silver nanoparticles (NPs) in medical, industrial and agricultural fields is becoming more widespread every year. This leads to an increasing number of experimental toxicological and microbiological studies of silver NPs aimed at establishing the risk–benefit ratio for their application. The following key parameters affecting the biological activity of silver dispersions are traditionally taken into consideration: mean diameter of NPs, surface potential of NPs and equilibrium concentration of Ag⁺. These characteristics are mainly predetermined by the chemical nature of the capping agent used for stabilization. However, the extent to which they influence the biological activity and the toxicity of silver NPs varies greatly. In this work, dispersions of silver NPs stabilized with a wide array of substances of different chemical nature were used for quantitative evaluation of whether the various measurable properties of silver NPs fit as descriptors of linear QNAR (quantitative nanostructure–activity relationship) models for silver NP toxicity evaluation with respect to a model eukaryotic microorganism—Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells. It was shown that among the factors that determine silver NP toxicity, the charge of particles, their colloidal stability and the ability to generate Ag⁺ ions carry more importance than the descriptors related to the particle size. A significant synergistic effect between the ζ-potential and the colloidal stability of silver NPs on their toxicity was also discovered. Following this, a new descriptor has been proposed for the integral characterization of the silver dispersion colloidal stability. According to the obtained data, it can be considered applicable for building QNAR models of higher efficacy. The validity testing of the proposed model for theoretical prediction of silver NP toxicity using a wide range of living organisms has shown that this new descriptor correlates with toxicity much better compared to most traditionally used descriptors. Consequently, it seems promising in terms of being used not only in situations involving the rather narrow array of the objects tested, but also for the construction of silver NP toxicity models with respect to other living organisms.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are the most widely studied antimicrobial nanomaterials. However, their use in biomedicine is currently limited due to the availability of data that prove the nanosilver toxicity associated primarily with oxidative stress development in mammalian cells. The surface modification of AgNPs is a potent technique of improvement of their biocompatibility. The synthetic or natural compounds that combine zero or low toxicity towards human and animal organisms with inherent antimicrobial properties are the most promising stabilizing agents, their use would also minimize the risks of microorganisms developing resistance to silver-based materials. We used a simple technique to obtain 30–60 nm AgNPs stabilized with benzyldimethyl[3-myristoylamine)-propyl]ammonium chloride monohydrate (BAC)—a well-known active ingredient of many antibacterial drugs. The objective of the study was to assess the AgNPs-BAC entero- and hepatotoxicity to CBF1 mice upon enteral administration. The animals were exposed to 0.8–7.5 mg/kg doses of AgNPs-BAC in the acute and to 0.05–2.25 mg/kg doses of AgNPs-BAC in the subacute experiments. No significant entero- and hepatotoxic effects following a single exposure to doses smaller than 4 mg/kg were detected. Repeated exposure to the doses of AgNPs-BAC below 0.45 mg/kg and to the doses of BAC below 0.5 mg/kg upon enteral administration also led to no adverse effects. During the acute experiment, the higher AgNPs-BAC dose resulted in increased quantities of aminotransferases and urea, as well as the albumin-globulin ratio shift, which are indicative of inflammatory processes. Besides, the relative mass of the liver of mice was smaller compared to the control. During the subacute experiment, the groups treated with the 0.25–2.25 mg/kg dose of AgNPs-BAC had a lower weight gain rate compared to the control, while the groups treated with the 2.25 mg/kg dose of AgNPs-BAC showed statistically significant variations in the blood serum transaminases activity, which indicated hepatosis. It should be noted that the spleen and liver of the animals from the groups treated with the 0.45 and 2.25 mg/kg dose of AgNPs-BAC were more than two times smaller compared to the control. In the intestines of some animals from the group treated with the 2.25 mg/kg dose of AgNPs-BAC small areas of hyperemia and enlarged Peyer’s patches were observed. Histological examination confirmed the initial stages of the liver and intestinal wall inflammation.

Trans-pterostilbene (t-Pt), a methylated derivative of trans-resveratrol (t-R), exhibits potent pharmacological properties but accumulates minimally in plants, limiting its practical applications. This study establishes a proof-of-concept in vitro system for t-Pt production using blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) leaf-derived callus cultures. Calli were induced on a solid medium containing 0.5 mg/L 2,4-D and 0.2 mg/L BA, with red calli (RC) demonstrating superior stilbenoid accumulation. Suspension cultures of RC in liquid medium supplemented with 0.2 mg/L 2,4-D yielded about 89-fold higher t-Pt levels than control leaves without UV treatment. Furthermore, UV-A and UV-C treatments (600 J/m², followed by a 7-day recovery) produced modest increases in ROMT1 expression: in leaves, ∼1.06-fold with UV-A and ∼1.10-fold with UV-C; in calli, ∼1.17-fold with UV-A and ∼1.26-fold with UV-C, with only UV-C reaching statistical significance. These transcriptional changes at a stabilized 7-day time point are consistent with a role for resveratrol O-methyltransferase 1 (ROMT1) in supporting t-Pt biosynthesis. Although conducted as separate experiments, the combined results from RC suspension cultures and UV-C elicitation demonstrate a two-stage proof-of-concept processRC induction followed by UV-C treatment, as a residue-free, controlled in vitro approach for enhancing t-Pt biosynthetic capacity.

산업식품공학(Food Engineering Progress)