Laya Ebrahimi - Department of Food Hygiene and Public Health, School of Veterinary Medicine, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
Maryam Montaseri - Department of Food Hygiene and Public Health, School of Veterinary Medicine, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
Saeid Hosseinzadeh - Department of Food Hygiene and Public Health, School of Veterinary Medicine, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
Mansour Rahsepee - Department of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
Aliakbar Kazemiasl - Department of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz , iran
Enayat Berizi - Nutrition Research Center, Department of Food Hygiene and Quality Control, School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

Nanoparticles used in packaging may migrate to foodstuffs and cause adverse effects on humans. This study aimed to evaluate the probable cytotoxicity of silver nanoparticles stabilized by chitosan on Vero cells (normal cells) and HT-۲۹ cell (colon cancer cells). The silver nanoparticles were initially synthesized using a chitosan solution and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM), and their cytotoxicities were evaluated by MTT assay and acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) staining at different concentrations (۰ to ۴۰۰ μg/ml) for ۲۴ h and ۴۸ h. SEM showed spherical silver nanoparticles with about < ۱۰۰ nm size. The IC۵۰ values were calculated at ۱۲.۱۵ and ۲۷۶.۸ μg/ml on Vero and HT-۲۹ cells, respectively. Higher cytotoxic effect was found on Vero cells (۸۱.۷۷%) compared with HT-۲۹ cells (۷۰.۱۳%) at ۴۰۰ μg/ml concentration after ۲۴ h. Following the increase in the nanoparticle size, cell viability decreased. Therefore, due to the high cytotoxicity, stabilized silver nanoparticles by chitosan are not recommended as a proper candidate for food packaging. Nanoparticle concentrations, exposure time, synthesis method, and cell line types can substantially affect the cytotoxicity of silver nanoparticles

Silver nanoparticles, Chitosan, Cytotoxicity, Apoptosis, Cell line