Inhaled silica nanoparticles cause chronic kidney disease in rats
Fumihiko Sasai, Keegan L. Rogers, David J. Orlicky, Arthur Stem, Joshua W. Schaeffer, Gabriela García, Jacob Fox, Matthew Ray, Jaime Butler-Dawson, Marvin González-Quiroz, Ricardo Leiva, Gangadhar Taduri, Sirirat Anutrakululchai, Vidhya Venugopal, Magdalena Madero, Jason Glaser, Julia Wijkström, Annika Wernerson, Jared M. Brown, Richard J. Johnson, Carlos A. Roncal-Jiménez
Abstract
Inhalation of silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) released during the burning of sugarcane has been postulated to have a role in chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu). We administered 200- and 300-nm amorphous SiNPs to rats by aspiration and observed kidney damage with tubular injury and inflammation that persisted even after stopping the SiNP exposure. These findings support the hypothesis that human exposure to SiNPs found in sugarcane ash could have a participatory role CKDu.