Synthesis, characterization and evaluation of antioxidant properties of catechin hydrate nanoparticles

Catechin hydrate (CH), is an important phyto compound, reported to have potential therapeutic activity for prevention and treatment of various central nervous system (CNS) disorders. However, its therapeutic action is limited by their low oral bioavailability, poor stability and intestinal absorption, therefore, development of a targeted nanoparticle based carrier system which can overcome its physicochemical limitations and can enhance its biological activity is required. The objective of the present study was to formulate nanoparticle based formulation by ionic gelation method for catechin hydrate. After optimizing the formulation by statistical tool, further, characterization results showed zeta average particle size of 68.76 ± 1.72 nm along with polydispersibility index of 0.174 ± 0.081 and zeta potential of −5.32 mV. Moreover, TEM analysis also confirmed its nanometric size range (range of 61.8–128 nm) and FT – IR scan showed no bond formation between polymers and loaded extract (CH). The in vitro compound release kinetics showed a typical linear diffusion profile and cytotoxicity analysis done on NB41A3 cell lines results exhibited the cell viability of 89.5 ± 0.25% in catechin loaded nanoparticles (CH NPs) whereas, it is 82.7 ± 0.34% in CH indicating negligible toxicity in nanoparticle based formulation. The stability testing was done for CH NPs after 8 weeks, and results revealed minimal degradation of catechin. Lastly, the antioxidant activities estimated through DPPH (2, 2–Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl-hydrate), Nitric oxide (NO) and Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) scavenging assays revealed that CH NPs have higher and prolonged anti-oxidant activity in comparison with CH.