Open Access

ARTICLE

Curcumin gum Arabic nanoparticles demonstrate potent antioxidant and cytotoxic properties in human cancer cells

by ABDELKADER HASSANI^1,2,3, SITI ASLINA HUSSAIN², MOTHANNA SADIQ AL-QUBAISI⁴, MOHAMED LAKHDER BELFAR³, HAKIM BELKHALFA⁵, HAMID HAMMAD ENEZEI⁶, HAMID ZENTOU², WISAM NABEEL IBRAHIM^7,8,*, ABD ALMONEM DOOLAANEA^1,*

1 Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuantan, Malaysia
2 Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, 43400, Malaysia
3 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Material Sciences, University of kasdi Murbah, Ouargla, Algeria
4 UPM-MAKNA Cancer Research Laboratory, Institute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
5 Scientific and Technical Research Center in Physicochemical Analysis, Bou-Ismail, Tipaza, Algeria
6 Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, College of Dentistry, University of Anbar, Ramadi, Iraq
7 Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar
8 Pharmaceutical Research Unit, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar

* Corresponding Authors: WISAM NABEEL IBRAHIM. Email: ; ABD ALMONEM DOOLAANEA. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Molecular and Cellular Nanobiotechnology)

BIOCELL 2022, 46(3), 677-687. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2022.016848

Received 01 April 2021; Accepted 14 May 2021; Issue published 18 November 2021

Abstract

The main purpose of the study was to enhance the stability and therapeutic effects of Curcumin (Cur) through nanoformulation with gum Arabic (GA) as a coating agent through an efficient synthetic approach. The antioxidant properties of the developed nanoparticles (Cur/GANPs) were assessed through several in vitro assays, such as β-carotene bleaching activity, DPPH, and nitric oxide scavenging activities in addition to evaluating its inhibitory activity on angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE). The cytotoxicity of Cur/GANPs was evaluated in vitro using different types of human cancer cells including breast cancer (MCF7, MDA-MB231), liver cancer (HepG2), and colon cancer (HT29) cells. The prepared particles displayed an elliptical shape with a size ranging between 20–260 nm and a potential difference of –15 mV. The Cur/GANPs exhibited significant antioxidant activity compared to free curcumin when using concentrations between 31.5 and 500 µg/mL. The Cur/GANPs also had inhibited the growth of all cancer cell lines in a proportional trend with concentrations used. Hence, the encapsulation with gum Arabic has augmented the antioxidant and anti-neoplastic effects of Curcumin. Therefore, Cur/GANPs may have effective therapeutic properties in diseases attributed to oxidative stress like cancer and hypertension.

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