Blood compatibility evaluations of CaCO 3 particles.

CaCO ₃ particles, due to their unique properties such as biodegradation, pH-sensitivity, and porous surface, have been widely used as carrier materials for delivering drugs, genes, vaccines, and other bioactive molecules. In these applications, CaCO ₃ particles are often administered intravenously. In this sense, the interaction between CaCO ₃ particles and blood components plays a key role in their delivery efficacy and biosafety, though the hemocompatibility of CaCO ₃ particles has not been evaluated until now. Deficiency in the biosafety information has delayed the clinical use of CaCO ₃ particles in delivery systems. In this work, we investigated the biosafety of CaCO ₃ particles, focusing on their in vitro and in vivo effects on key blood components (red blood cells, platelets, etc) and coagulation functions. We found in vitro that high concentrations of CaCO ₃ particles can cause the aggregation and hemolysis of red blood cells, with platelet activation and coagulation prolongation. In vivo , we found that intravenously injected CaCO ₃ particles at 50 mg kg ^-1 significantly disturbed the red blood cells, and platelet-related blood routine indexes, but did not induce visible abnormalities in the tissue structures of the key organs. Overall, these effects may be due to the enormous adsorption capability of the porous surface of CaCO ₃ particles. 0.1 mg ml ^-1 of the CaCO ₃ particles exhibit excellent compatibility for their practical applications. These results would be expected to greatly promote the in vivo applications and clinical use of CaCO ₃ particles in biomedicine.
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