A Comparison between the cytotoxic effects of pure curcumin and curcumin-loaded PLGA-PEG nanoparticles on the MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death among women worldwide. Herbal medicines have tremendous potential as promising agents for the treatment of cancer. Curcumin is a natural polyphenol which has many anticancer effects. Because of its low aqueous solubility, low bioavailability, and quick degradation and metabolism, curcumin was released using PLGA-PEG nanoparticles. Herein, the efficiency of pure curcumin and curcumin-loaded PLGA-PEG in MCF-7 human breast cancer cell lines was studied. ¹H NMR, FT-IR and SEM demonstrated PLGA-PEG structure and curcumin loaded on nanoparticles. Subsequently, the cytotoxic effects of free curcumin and curcumin-loaded PLGA-PEG were determined via an MTT assay. Our study confirmed that curcumin-loaded PLGA-PEG has more cytotoxic effects on the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line and could be exploited as a potential source for developing novel drugs against breast cancer.

Keywords::

• breast cancer
• curcumin
• PLGA-PEG
• MTT assay

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Medical Sciences of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, for all the support provided. This is a report of a database from a thesis entitled “The comparison between the effects of pure curcumin and curcumin-loaded PLGA-PEG nanoparticles on telomerase and PinX1 gene expression in breast cancer cell line”, registered in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences (No. 92/2-3/2).

Declaration of interest

The authors report no declarations of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.