Neurotoxicity of Silver Nanoparticles and Non-Linear Development of Adaptive Homeostasis with Age

TL;DR

This study investigates how silver nanoparticle exposure affects behavioral functions in laboratory mammals across different ages, revealing that adaptive homeostasis changes non-linearly with age, potentially improving during prime years and declining afterward.

Contribution

It is the first study to examine age-related behavioral effects of silver nanoparticles in mammals, highlighting non-linear changes in adaptive homeostasis with age.

Findings

Elder mice adapt better to silver nanoparticles than younger mice.

Younger mice exhibit more anxiety responses than older mice.

Adaptive homeostasis may improve during prime age and decline after a certain stage.

Abstract

For the first time in the world behavioral functions of laboratory mammals exposed to silver nanoparticles were studied with the regard to age. Silver nanoparticles coated with polyvinylpyrrolidone with the size of 8.7 nm were used in the present research as a potential xcenobiotic. Elder mice adapted to the xcenobiotic better than younger animals. Younger animals demonstrated more drastic anxiety than the elder ones. Thus, it is concluded that adaptive homeostasis non-linearly changes with the age. Presumably, it may improve during the prime of life and start to decline just after certain stage.