A study of bioengineered piperine-loaded silver-bovine serum albumin nanoparticles and determining anticancer effects, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties against cancer cells

Abstract

The combination of naturally occurring bioactive compounds with nanocarriers could be a therapeutic solution for cancer. In this study, the piperine (Pip)-loaded silver (Ag) bovine serum albumin (BSA) nanoparticles (NP) were prepared for drug delivery use against cancer. The Pip-Ag-BSA-NP was characterized using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the Pip-Ag-BSA-NP was 196.8 nm with a polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.27 and a zeta potential of −26 ± 9.07 mV. FT-IR analysis revealed that the BSA had been incorporated into the NPs and that this incorporation had been confirmed with the encapsulation efficiency of 84 %.Then the cytotoxic effects of these NPs were investigated against normal and various cancer cell lines. The anti-inflammatory properties of these NPs were studied on interleukin-1 and -6 (IL-1 and -6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). in addition, the anti-oxidant properties of Pip-Ag-BSA-NPs were evaluated. Compared to normal cells, Pip-Ag-BSA-NP displayed higher cytotoxicity against all cancer cell lines, indicating that the synthesized nanoparticles were safe. Additionally, Pip-Ag-BSA-NP was also very effective in fighting free radicals as an anti-oxidant agent. Further, in cells treated with Pip-Ag-BSA-NP at 150 µg/mL, mRNA levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines decreased, indicating that nanoparticles reduce inflammation, thereby preventing cancer. It was found that Pip-Ag-BSA-NPs synthesized in this study demonstrated potency against cancer in vitro, however, further studies in vitro and in vivo are needed.