Efficacy of nano-curcumin on nicotine-induced genotoxicity and immunomodulatory disruption in protein- malnourished female rats

Abstract

Background: Aggravated DNA damage and immunomodulatory disruptions by nicotine are more prominent in female populations under protein-restricted conditions. Females are more susceptible to nicotine-induced complications due to their low innate immunity. Anti-inflammatory and anti-genotoxic curcumin, though it effectively works against nicotine-induced complications, still its therapeutic use is hindered due to its poor aqueous solubility and low bioavailability. Nano-curcumin would be a better therapeutic agent because of its increased aqueous solubility and higher bioavailability than curcumin. Materials: This study investigates the effects of nicotine (2.5 mg/kg body weight injected subcutaneously for 21 days) on genotoxicity and immunomodulatory disruptions in female rats maintained under a protein-restricted diet (5% casein) and determines the ameliorative efficacy of nano-curcumin after one hour of nicotine dosage. Results: It is observed that nicotine decreases hemoglobin content in blood and DNA content in tissues. It causes severe DNA damage and disrupts the immune system and endocrine functions under protein-restricted conditions. Nano-curcumin ameliorates the nicotine-mediated genotoxic effects, maintains the female sex hormone levels, and restores the normalcy of immune responses in protein-restricted diet rats more efficiently than curcumin. Conclusion: Nano-curcumin looks like a potential blocker of nicotine, which may be used as a prospective therapeutic herbal agent to protect the health of the protein-malnourished female population.