Abstract

Curcumin, a phenolic compound isolated from the rhizomes of the plant Curcuma longa, has been known since decades. Because of its hydrophobic nature and rapid metabolization, it has not been used as an effective drug till date. To solve the problem of bioavailability of curcumin, gold nanoparticles (cAuNps) reduced and stabilized with curcumin have been prepared. These were then studied for their antioxidant defenses and effect on oxidative stress. Cell cytotoxicity of both cAuNps (2.91677×102 – 2.91677×1012 particles/ml) and free curcumin (1mM-128mM) were studied by [3-(4, 5-dimethylazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide) (MTT) assay. From the above studies, it was found that cAuNps could ameliorate the antioxidants defenses and could quench the ROS and RNS generated in the cells more significantly as compared to free curcumin. This phenomenon is due to the abstraction of H atoms from phenolic functional groups of curcumin in the nanoconjugate form. The study thus, proposes a strategy for increasing the bioavailability of curcumin as a therapeutic agent as well as increasing its activity due to the synergistic effect of gold conjugated to it.

Key words: Antioxidant; curcumin; oxidative stress; reactive oxygen species; reactive nitrogen species