PVP- coated naringenin nanoparticles for biomedical applications - In vivo toxicological evaluations

Naringenin (NAR) is one of the naturally occurring flavonoids found in citrus fruits and exerts a wide variety of pharmacological activities. The clinical relevance of naringenin is limited by its low solubility and minimal bioavailability, owing to its largely hydrophobic ring structure. The aim of the present study is to develop a novel naringenin nanoparticle system (NAR NP) using simple nanoprecipitation technique with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as the hydrophilic carrier. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized using XRD, FTIR, SEM and EDX. The characterization study revealed the nanoscale properties and the interactions between NAR and PVP. In vivo toxicological evaluations were carried out at various doses (1, 5, 10 & 50 mg/kg body wt) in male Sprague-Dawley rats in comparison with silver nanoparticle (AgNP) at toxic concentration (50 mg/kg body wt). The altered hepatotoxicity markers, hematology parameters and antioxidant defense system were observed in AgNP- treated rats. But NAR NP - treated rats did not show any biochemical alterations and improved the antioxidant defense indices when compared to control group, by virtue of the pharmacological properties exerted by NAR. The modulatory effect of NAR NP over inflammatory and stress signaling cascades were confirmed by the normalized mRNA expressions of NF-κB, TNF-α and IL-6. The histopathological analysis of liver, kidney and heart reinforce our findings. These studies provide preliminary answers to some of the key biological issues raised over the use and safety of nanoparticles for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Consequently, we suggest that the safe NAR NP can be used to reduce the dosage of NAR, improve its bioavailability and merits further investigation for therapeutic applications.