Anti-inflammatory potential of baicalein combined with silk fibroin protein in a zebrafish model (Danio rerio).

Abstract

Baicalein (BA) is a flavonoid with wide-ranging pharmacological activity. However, its biological evaluation is hampered by its low solubility in aqueous medium, making forms of incorporation that improve its solubility necessary. In the present study, BA was combined with a solution of silk fibroin protein (SF), a biomaterial used too as a drug carrier, to evaluate the anti-inflammatory potential of this combination, in vivo, in an experimental model, zebrafish (Danio rerio). Baicalein-silk fibroin (BASF) improved the DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate) free radical scavenging rate (95%) in comparison with BA in solution. The acute toxicity study and histopathological analysis in zebrafish showed that BASF haslow cytotoxic potential, except for the maximdose of 2000mg/kg. The use of BA incombination with SF enhanced the anti-inflammatory effect of flavonoids by inducing inflammatory peritoneal edema through carrageenan and achieved 77.6% inhibition of abdominal edema at a dose of 75mg/kg. The results showed that the BASF, significantly increases the bioavailability and therapeutic effect of flavonoids and several results observed in this study may help in the development of new drugs.