Xanthan gum stabilized gold nanoparticles: Characterization, biocompatibility, stability and cytotoxicity

Xanthan gum (XG) has been widely used in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. In the present study, we explored the potential of XG in the synthesis of gold nanoparticle. XG was used as both reducing and stabilizing agent. The effect of various formulation and process variables such as temperature, reaction time, gum concentration, gum volume and gold concentration, in GNP preparation was determined. The XG stabilized, rubey-red XGNP were obtained with 5 ml of XG aqueous solution (1.5 mg/ml). The optimum temperature was 80 °C whereas the reaction time was 3 h. The optimized nanoparticles were also investigated as drug delivery carrier for doxorubicin hydrochloride. DOX loaded gold nanoparticles (DXGP) were characterized by dynamic light scattering, TEM, FTIR, and DSC analysis. The synthesized nanoparticle showed mean particle size of 15–20 nm and zeta potential −29.1 mV. The colloidal stability of DXGP was studied under different conditions of pH, electrolytes and serum. Nanoparticles were found to be stable at pH range between pH 5–9 and NaCl concentration up to 0.5 M. In serum, nanoparticles showed significant stability up to 24 h. During toxicity studies, nanoparticles were found biocompatible and non-toxic. Compared with free DOX, DXGP displayed 3 times more cytotoxicity in A549 cells. In conclusion, this study provided an insight to synthesize GNP without using harsh chemicals.