For application of nano-sized material in various fields, toxicity evaluation of nano-sized material is important. In the current study, a suspension of 50 nm-sized zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles at a dose of 1 g/kg body weight was injected intraperitonially into mice in order to identify the toxicity of ZnO nanoparticles. After 24 h, the blood and liver were taken and analyzed. According to the results of hematological analysis, white blood cell (p<0.001), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (p<0.001), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (p<0.05) in the ZnO nanoparticle treated group showed a significant decrease, compared to the control group. In serum biochemistry analysis, alanine aminotransferase (p<0.001) and aspartate amino-transferase (p<0.05) also induced a significant increase in the ZnO nanoparticle treated group, compared with the control group. In the histopathological examination, liver in mice treated with ZnO nanoparticles showed edema and degeneration in hepatocytes. Therefore, it is concluded that the liver is the target organ for 50 nm ZnO intraperitoneal exposure. In the future, greater attention should be paid to the potential toxicity induced by various routes and doses of ZnO nanoparticles.

The present study was undertaken to estimate the antibacterial effect of a combination of C. rhizoma,L. Flos, and P. japonica (1:1:1) extracts (CLP1000) and a combination of the herbal extract mixture and dioctahedral smectite (CLPS1000) against murine salmonellosis. At the concentration of CLP1000 and CLPS10000.5 mg/ml, the antibacterial effect was not showed on Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhimurium). On the other hand,the antibacterial effect against S. typhimurium was observed at the concentration of CLP1000 and CLPS1000 1.0 mg/ml. Oral administration of Smectite, CLP1000, and CLPS1000 at the dose of 10 mg/ml showed a therapeutic effect for S. typhimurium infected BALB/c mice. The mortality of Smectite, CLP1000 and CLPS1000-treated mice was 90%,90%, and 70% at 12 days, respectively, while that of untreated mice was 100% at 9 days after a lethal dose of S. typhimurium infection. The results of our study strongly indicate that CLPS1000 has potential as an effective of salmonellosis.