Anti-pepsin activity of silicon dioxide nanoparticles

SiO 2 NPs as an inhibitor of pepsin enzyme for treatment of gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) was used. Silicon dioxide nanoparticles (pepsin coated SiO 2 NPs) are among the safest nanoparticles that can be used inside the human body. The activity of pepsin before and after the addition of certain amounts of the NPs to the reaction mixture was measured spectrophotometrically. Furthermore, these experiments were repeated at different temperatures, different weights of NPs, and different ionic strengths. The kinetic aparameters (K m & V max ) of the pepsin catalyzed reactions were calculated from the Lineweaver-Burke plots. The results showed that there is a significant reduction of pepsin activity by SiO 2 NPs (V max of free pepsin = 4.82 U and V max of the immobilizedpepsin = 2.90 U). The results also indicated that the presence of ionic strength causes remarkable reduction of pepsin activity. It can be concluded the best condition for inhibition of pepsin activity is by using a combination of SiO 2 NPs and high concentration NaCl at 37 °C.