Glycerol monolaurate nanocapsules for biomedical applications: in vitro toxicological studies

The glycerol monolaurate (GML) is a surfactant used in the food industry and has potent antimicrobial activity against many microorganisms; however, the use of GML is not expanded due its high melting point and poor solubility in water. The aim of the study was to produce, characterize, and evaluate in vitro the cytotoxicity of GML and GML nanocapsules. The GML nanocapsules were produced and characterized by a mean diameter, zeta potential, and polydispersity index. The cytotoxicity was evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and hemolytic activity. The genotoxicity was verified by comet assay. The physicochemical parameters showed a mean diameter of 192.5 ± 2.8 nm, a polydispersity index of 0.061 ± 0.018, and a zeta potential about - 21.9 ± 1 mV. The viability test demonstrated the protector effect of GML nanocapsule compared with the GML on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and VERO cells (isolated from kidney epithelial cells extracted from an African green monkey). A reduction in lipid peroxidation and lactate dehydrogenase release in GML nanocapsule-exposed cells compared with GML treated cells was observed. The damage on erythrocytes was addressed in treatment with GML, while the treatment with GML nanocapsules did not cause an effect. Moreover, the comet assay showed that the GML-caused genotoxicity and GML nanocapsules do not demonstrate damage. The study showed the reduction of toxicity of GML nanocapsules by many methods used in antimicrobial therapy.