The experiment was carried out on fourty BALB/c mice of 8 weeks old and 15-17 g weight by dividing them into 5 experimental groups (each group had four male and four female mice). They were fed diets and drinks as follows: (1) group 1: a basal diet and drink (control); (2) group 2: a grain maize diet derived from 20 mg/kg DW nCu-treated seeds (nCu-20); (3) group 3: a grain maize diet derived from 1000 mg/kg DW nCu-treated seeds (nCu-1000); (4) group 4: a basal diet and drink containing 2 mg nCu/l (2 mg nCu/l-treated mice), and (5) group 5: a basal diet and drink containing 1000 mg nCu/l (1000 mg nCu/l-treated mice). The drinking water was changed every 12 hr. The duration of this experiment was 8 weeks; the body weight (BW) gain of each mouse was recorded before and every two weeks after the administration. All experiments were repeated twice. At the end of the treatment, mice were sacrificed and spleens, livers and serum of the five mouse groups were collected for the subsequent experiments.