Development and characterization of gelatin microgel-stabilized silver nanoparticles loaded with curcumin: Evaluation of antibacterial, antioxidant, and antiproliferative activities.

Abstract

ObjectiveCurcumin is a polyphenol extracted from the roots of Curcuma longa L. It is a multifunctional biological substance that has notable antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and antibacterial properties, as reported in numerous previous papers. However, curcumin has limited bioavailability due to its low water solubility. Furthermore, pH, temperature, and light all have the potential to decrease curcumin's biopharmaceutical activities. Silver nanoparticles have excellent antibacterial characteristics and are used in various applications. The main objective of this work was to synthesize the gelatin microgel-stabilized silver nanoparticles loaded with curcumin (GelCurAg complex) to increase the biopharmaceutical activities of the complex.MethodsNumerous techniques, including UV-vis spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, Zetasizer Nano instruments, TEM images, and XDR patterns, were used for investigating the characterization of the GelCurAg complex. The various methods, such as the DPPH antioxidant assay, cytotoxicity analysis, and the agar-well diffusion method, were used for the analysis of the biopharmaceutical activities of the GelCurAg complex.ResultsWe successfully synthesized and characterized the GelCurAg complex, consisting of gelatin, curcumin, and silver nanoparticle biofilms using polyvinylpyrrolidone. The average nanoparticle size was 50 nm. The GelCurAg complex improved water solubility and dispersion compared with the single curcumin component. The IC₅₀ value for antioxidant activity was 4.87 μg/mL, and for antiproliferation on SK-MEL-28, it was 3.98 µg/mL. GelCurAg solution provided remarkable antibacterial activities against four bacterial strains: Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus. The GelCurAg complex showed better antibacterial activities than the single curcumin component, with the antibacterial inhibition zone in the range of 0.9--1.6 cm.ConclusionsThe GelCurAg complex enhanced the solubility and dispersion of curcumin in water while increasing its antibacterial activity compared to curcumin. The GelCurAg complex has excellent biopharmaceutical properties to suggest its various applications in the future.