lycium barbarum polysaccharide attenuates acute toxicity caused by titanium dioxide nanoparticles in splenic and pulmonary tissues

Background: titanium dioxide nanoparticles (tio2nps) are widely used in various commercial and industrial applications, posing potential risks to human body. lycium barbarum polysaccharide (lbp) is renowned for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. this study aims to investigate the protective potential of lbp against tio2 nps-induced acute toxicity in splenic and pulmonary tissues. methods: forty rats were grouped as follows: group i, the normal control, received daily 0.1% dmso intraperitoneally (ip) and 0.5 ml pbs orally. group ii received lbp (100 mg/kg/day) by gavage for 14 days. group iii received a single ip injection of tio2 nps (972 mg/kg) on the 8th day. group iv obtained both lbp and tio2 nps. group v was treated with lbp, tio2 nps and zinc protoporphyrin ix (znppix), the later was injected ip in a dose of 10 mg/kg/day one hour before lbp. biochemical, histopathological, and immunohistochemical analysis were conducted on splenic and pulmonary tissues of all rats. results: tio2 nps induced congestion, inflammation, macrophage proliferation, pyknosis and significantly increased caspase-3, cd68, nf-κb, tlr4 immunoexpression with upregulation of markers of oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis and fibrosis. pretreatment with lbp mitigated tio2 nps-induced tissue damage but enhanced heme oxygenase-1 (ho-1) mrna expression. co-administration of znppix reversed lbp protective impact. conclusion: lbp demonstrated the ability to alleviate splenic and pulmonary injuries caused by the acute tio2 nps toxicity. lbp prevents tlr4/nf-κb mediated injury triggered by tio2 nps through ho-1 upregulation. further research is required to explore the preventative role of lbp against both acute and chronic toxicity brought by nanomaterials in general and tio2 nps in particular.