Zinc chloride through N-Cadherin upregulation prevents the damage induced by silver nanoparticles in rat cerebellum

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), due to their metallic nature, are increasingly used in biological, optical, and electrical applications. Some reports indicate that AgNPs can induce damage in the central nervous system (CNS), yet little is known about the physiological responses to any such damage. The goal of this work was to investigate the histological cerebellar cortex damage caused by an intraperitoneal administration of AgNPs (15 mg/kg) in rats, and if this damage could be prevented by 24 h of previous treatment with ZnCl2 (27 mg/kg), as well as to evaluate if these effects are associated with the expression of N-Cadherin in the cerebellum. We showed that AgNPs induced damage in the different layers of the cerebellum. Expression of N-Cadherin increased in the white matter after AgNPs and ZnCl2 %2b AgNPs treatment, and in all cerebellar cortical layers after ZnCl2 %2b AgNPs administration. We find that N-Cadherin is acting as a mediator of the neuroprotective process against the damage induced by AgNPs in the cerebellar cortex, and this neuroprotective role is enhanced by extracellular Zn. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.

VIVO