Protective Effects of Indole-3-Carbinol-Loaded Poly(Lactic-Co-Glycolic Acid) Nanoparticles Against Glutamate-Induced Neurotoxicity

Indole-3-carbinol (I3C) has anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Nonetheless, the potential of I3C to treat neurodegenerative diseases remains unclear because of its poor ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Because polymer-based drug delivery systems stabilized by surfactants have been intensively utilized as a strategy to cross the blood-brain barrier, we prepared I3C-loaded poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) that were stabilized by Tween 80 (T80) (I3C-PLGA-T80-NPs) and examined their neuroprotective potential in vitro. We prepared I3C-PLGA-T80-NPs with an oil-in-water (o/w) emulsion solvent evaporation technique and confirmed their successful synthesis with both transmission electron microscopy and Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy. I3C-PLGA-T80-NPs were then used to treat PC12 neuronal cells injured by glutamate excitotoxicity (GE) and examined the resulting survival rates compared with PC12 cells treated with I3C only. The 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay revealed higher survival rates in I3C-PLGA-T80-NPs-treated cells after GE injury compared with those treated with I3C only. Furthermore, I3C-PLGA-T80-NPs decreased the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and apoptosis-related enzymes (Caspase-3 and -8) in GE-damaged neuronal cells. Taken together, I3C-PLGA-T80-NPs might possess neuroprotective effects against GE through ROS scavenging and subsequent apoptosis blockage.