Formulation, Characterization and Biological Activity Screening of Sodium Alginate-Gum Arabic Nanoparticles Loaded with Curcumin

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 25; no. 9; p. 2244
• Main Authors: Hassani, Abdelkader, Mahmood, Syed, Enezei, Hamid Hammad, Hussain, Siti Aslina, Hamad, Hamad Ali, Aldoghachi, Ahmed Faris, Hagar, Abdullah, Doolaanea, Abd Almonem, Ibrahim, Wisam Nabeel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI 10-05-2020; MDPI AG
• Subjects: Alginates - chemistry; Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Antioxidants - pharmacology; Calorimetry, Differential Scanning; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Proliferation - drug effects; Cell Survival - drug effects; curcumin; Curcumin - pharmacology; Curcumin - toxicity; cytotoxicity; Drug Carriers - chemistry; gum Arabic; Gum Arabic - chemistry; Humans; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; nanoparticles; Nanoparticles - chemistry; Nanoparticles - toxicity; Nanoparticles - ultrastructure; Particle Size; sodium alginate; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; X-Ray Diffraction; sodium alginate; nanoparticles; gum Arabic; cytotoxicity; curcumin
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules25092244

The approach of drug delivery systems emphasizes the use of nanoparticles as a vehicle, offering the optional property of delivering drugs as a single dose rather than in multiple doses. The current study aims to improve antioxidant and drug release properties of curcumin loaded gum Arabic-sodium alginate nanoparticles (Cur/ALG-GANPs). The Cur/ALG-GANPs were prepared using the ionotropic gelation technique and further subjected to physico-chemical characterization using attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), size distribution, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The size of Cur/ALG-GANPs ranged between 10 ± 0.3 nm and 190 ± 0.1 nm and the zeta potential was -15 ± 0.2 mV. The antioxidant study of Cur/ALG-GANPs exhibited effective radical scavenging capacity for 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) at concentrations that ranged between 30 and 500µg/mL. Cytotoxicity was performed using MTT assay to measure their potential in inhibiting the cell growth and the result demonstrated a significant anticancer activity of Cur/ALG-GANPs against human liver cancer cells (HepG2) than in colon cancer (HT29), lung cancer (A549) and breast cancer (MCF7) cells. Thus, this study indicates that Cur/ALG-GANPs have promising anticancer properties that might aid in future cancer therapy.