First-in-human controlled inhalation of thin graphene oxide nanosheets to study acute cardiorespiratory responses.
Andrews, Jack P M Joshi, Shruti S Tzolos, Evangelos Syed, Maaz B Cuthbert, Hayley Crica, Livia E Lozano, Neus Okwelogu, Emmanuel Raftis, Jennifer B Bruce, Lorraine
Andrews, Jack P M
Joshi, Shruti S
Tzolos, Evangelos
Syed, Maaz B
Cuthbert, Hayley
Crica, Livia E
Lozano, Neus
Okwelogu, Emmanuel
Raftis, Jennifer B
Bruce, Lorraine
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Series / Report no.
Open Access
Type
Article
Language
en
Date of publication
2024-02-16
Year of publication
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Title
First-in-human controlled inhalation of thin graphene oxide nanosheets to study acute cardiorespiratory responses.
Translated Title
Published in
Nat Nanotechnol 2024;online ahead of print
Abstract
Graphene oxide nanomaterials are being developed for wide-ranging applications but are associated with potential safety concerns for human health. We conducted a double-blind randomized controlled study to determine how the inhalation of graphene oxide nanosheets affects acute pulmonary and cardiovascular function. Small and ultrasmall graphene oxide nanosheets at a concentration of 200 μg m-3 or filtered air were inhaled for 2 h by 14 young healthy volunteers in repeated visits. Overall, graphene oxide nanosheet exposure was well tolerated with no adverse effects. Heart rate, blood pressure, lung function and inflammatory markers were unaffected irrespective of graphene oxide particle size. Highly enriched blood proteomics analysis revealed very few differential plasma proteins and thrombus formation was mildly increased in an ex vivo model of arterial injury. Overall, acute inhalation of highly purified and thin nanometre-sized graphene oxide nanosheets was not associated with overt detrimental effects in healthy humans. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of carefully controlled human exposures at a clinical setting for risk assessment of graphene oxide, and lay the foundations for investigating the effects of other two-dimensional nanomaterials in humans. Clinicaltrials.gov ref: NCT03659864.