Effects of bentonite, zeolite nanoparticules and bentonite-zeolite nanocomposite on retinal pigment epithelial epithelial cells

In this study, the effects of bentonite nanoparticles and zeolite 4a nanoparticles and their nanocomposites on ARPE-19 (Human Retinal Pigment Epithelium) cell lines were investigated. The aim is to reveal the potential utility of these agents, if any, to establish drug delivery systems for targeted intraocular therapeutic agents.After 24 hours incubation, viability measurements with MTT were performed by applying BN and Z4A and nanocomposites at different concentration ranges determined to ARPE-19 cells grown by appropriate number of passages. Cytotoxic doses and effective doses (IC50) were determined for nanobentonite, nanozeolite and composites. The highest cell viability results were obtained with 30 µg/ml BN, 1 µg/ml with Z4A, and B10 µg / ml + ZEO 10 µg / ml with the nanocomposite of bentonite-zeolite. Furthermore, apoptosis analysis by ELISA technique was used to evaluate caspase-3 levels in cell lysates with these effective doses. There was no difference in caspase-3 mediated apoptosis in both BN and Z4A groups. This suggests that these agents are safe at established doses for ARPE-19 cell cultures.