Reversal of Oxidative Stress in Neural Cells by an Injectable Curcumin/Thermosensitive Hydrogel

Curcumin as an antioxidative agent which has been widely used medicinally in India and China. However, rapid metabolism coupled with the instability of curcumin under physiological conditions has greatly limited its applications in vivo. In the present study, a thermosensitive hydrogel with high payload of curcumin was developed by using a co-precipitation method, and its reversion of oxidative stress in Neuro-2a cells was investigated. With an increase in drug loading capacity, the solgel transition temperature of the thermosensitive hydrogel decreased accordingly. The stability of curcumin in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS; pH=7.4) was greatly improved by encapsulation in the thermosensitive hydrogel, as indicated by an in vitro degradation test. An in vitro release study showed that the encapsulated curcumin was rapidly released from the hydrogel within 6 h. A curcumin/F-127 aqueous solution under the threshold concentration of 4μg/mL was non-toxic against Neuro-2a cells after 24-h incubation. A MitoSOX assay indicated that the developed curcumin formulation could attenuate the oxidative damage induced by H2O2 as compared to that of the H2O2 group. All these results suggested that the developed curcumin/thermosensitive hydrogel might have great potential application in the reversion of oxidative stress after traumatic brain injury.