Migration of Intradermally Injected Quantum Dots to Sentinel Organs in Mice
Because the in vivo disposition of nanoscale materials is not well understood, we have evaluated the distribution of quantum dots following intradermal injection into female SKH-1 hairless mice as a model system for determining tissue localization following intradermal infiltration
Nanotechnology is the manipulation or synthesis of materials at the atomic level that have at least one dimension between approximately 1 to 100 nm
We have demonstrated that intradermally injected quantum dots remained as a depot in skin, penetrated the surrounding viable subcutis, and were visibly distributed to regional draining lymph nodes and other organs apparently through the subcutaneous lymphatics
6%, 1% and 0.5% of the administered cadmium from the QD accumulated in the liver, regional draining lymph nodes, and kidneys, respectively, at 24 hrs after the intradermal injection
The QD were visible in the skin and regional draining lymph nodes
If these QD penetrate the epidermis into the dermis following topical application, based on the results in this paper we would expect approximately 7.5% of the dose to accumulate in the liver, lymph nodes and kidneys during the first 24 hours
There could be obvious differences in the kinetics of the transport and distribution of nanoparticles based on size and chemical nature of the outer coating of the nanoparticle; these current results demonstrate the potential of using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis of sentinel organs as dosimeters of nanoscale material penetration into the dermis and migration within the body