Gamma radiation-induced synthesis of nanocurcumin: Characterization and cell viability test

Abstract

Curcumin is a bioactive agent with wide ranging therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of inflammations, wounds, microbial infections, and cancers. Despite having potent anticancer properties, its potential in cancer treatment is hampered by reduced bioavailability that mainly due to its limited solubility in water. Several studies have been performed to improve its water solubility by way of encapsulation or entrapment in nanogels or nanoparticles. These are synthesized from classical chemistry methods that involve several toxic chemicals those are difficult to purify. This study explores a novel production method to prepare nanosized curcumin (nanocurcumins) in view of avoiding the use of chemical crosslinkers and accelerants. Micellar aggregates were first synthesized by random copolymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAM), vinyl pyrollidone (VP), and polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) using gamma radiation-induced polymerization. The micellar aggregates were then used to entrap curcumin in water to form nanocurcumins—making it readily soluble in water. An MTT assay test shows that lowest cell viability for MCF-7 and HEP-G2 cells was observed at 1,000 and 5,000 µM nanocurcumin concentration, respectively, while free curcumin had higher cell viability in almost all concentrations. The tests revealed that a comparable final product could be obtained using the gamma radiation-induced polymerization method.