Evaluation of the cytotoxicity of gold nanoparticle-quercetin complex and its potential as a drug delivery vesicle

Abstract

Recently, conjugates of medicinal herb-derived bioflavonoids, such as quercetin, and gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have gained attention as targeted drug delivery systems. In the present study, because quercetin is an important flavonoid with anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidant properties, GNP-quercetin complexes (GNPQs) were synthesized to investigate possible adverse effects such as cytotoxicity. We found that while quercetin was cytotoxic, GNPQs were not cytotoxic towards the RAW 264.7 and THP-1 cell lines. Therefore, GNPQs may serve as a potential drug delivery system for cancer treatment.