Pre-Treatment with Zirconia Nanoparticles Reduces Inflammation Induced by the Pathogenic H5N1 Influenza Virus

Huo, Caiyun; Xiao, Jin; Xiao, Kai; Zou, Shumei; Wang, Ming; Qi, Peng; Liu, Tianlong; Hu, Yanxin

The nanomaterial or glucose was administered intraperitoneally to mice twice, one day apart. On the second day of administration, the viral challenge was given. The H5N1 influenza virus (A/chicken/Henan/1/2004) used in this study was isolated from infected chicken flocks. The 50% lethal dose (LD50) was determined in mice following serial dilution of the stock in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). The mice were anesthetized with Zoletil (Virbac, Carros, France) and infected with a dose of triple LD50 by the intranasal route according to previously published methods. 36 Seven mice per group were used in the experiment over a period of 14 days. Body weights were determined every 2 days. Lung tissue samples were collected on days 3 and 6 post-infection. All experiments with the H5N1 virus were conducted in a biosafety level 3 containment laboratory. Animal experiments were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of China Agricultural University (approval number 201206078) in accordance with the Regulations of Experimental Animals of Beijing Authority. Furthermore, all experimental protocols conformed to the guidelines of the Beijing Laboratory Animal Welfare and Ethics Committee and were approved by the Beijing Association for Science and Technology (approval number SYXK-2009-0423).