Cytotoxicity of curcumin-loaded magnetic nanoparticles against normal and cancer cells as a breast cancer drug delivery system

Recently, therapeutic applications of modified magnetic nanoparticles have attracted the attention of many researchers. The reason is the ability to develop nano drugs as cancer treatment agents. For this purpose, these particles must have a tiny size, intrinsic magnetic properties, imaging effectiveness, the ability to target the drug, and high drug absorption. Although studies have been performed on the anti-cancer properties of curcumin/nanoparticles, no comprehensive research has been performed to evaluate its anti-cancer and the normal cell toxicity of this drug system for breast cancer treatment. This study designed a curcumin-loaded MNPs (MNPs@CUR) formulation to accomplish these unique features. Using the diffusion process, chemical precipitation was used to make MNPs, which were then loaded with curcumin (CUR). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to study the morphology and size of MNP-CUR. The fabricated MNPs had spherical shapes with an average length of 23.22 nm. The presence of curcumin on the surface of MNPs was approved using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) diffractogram confirmed the face cubic center (fcc) character of MNPs.  After 24 hours of incubation with 4t1 breast cancer cells, MNPs@CUR anticancer effects were evaluated. MNPs@CUR displayed a concentration-dependent preference for applying anticancer effects on 4t1cells (IC50=108 µg/ml).  Separated in vivo anti-tumor studies of coated/naked nanoparticles and curcumin also demonstrated that MNPs@CUR eliminated tumor mass. The cytotoxicity and genotoxicity against normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were also measured by 2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) electrophoresis DNA digestion methods respectively for MNPs@CUR and naked MNPs. Cytotoxicity was demonstrated at high concentrations of MNP@CUR (991 µg/ml), while naked nanoparticles showed approximately no toxicity and neither had genotoxicity.