Non-toxic engineered carbon nanodiamond concentrations induce oxidative/nitrosative stress, imbalance of energy metabolism, and mitochondrial dysfunction in microglial and alveolar basal epithelial cells

The findings reported in this paper highlight the importance of investigating the modulation of energy metabolism as well as nitric oxide and ROS production at cellular level even at very low-dose, apparently non-toxic, nanoparticle concentrations. The present study indicates that a much better comprehension of the molecular and biochemical changes caused by the interaction of carbon nanoparticles (and nanoparticles in general) with living cells is mandatory before these highly promising tools might find the correct application in the biomedical field.