Nanoencapsulation of thyme essential oil: a new avenue to enhance its protective role against oxidative stress and cytotoxicity of zinc oxide nanoparticles in rats

Abstract

Although the green synthesis of nanometals is eco-friendly, the toxicity or safety of these biosynthesized nanoparticles in living organisms is not fully studied. This study aimed to evaluate the potential protective role of encapsulated thyme oil (ETO) against zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs). ETO was prepared using a mixture of whey protein isolate, maltodextrin, and gum Arabic, and ZnO-NPs were synthesized using parsley extract. Six groups of male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated orally for 21 days which included the control group, ZnO-NP-treated group (25 mg/kg body weight (b.w.)), ETO-treated groups at low or high dose (50, 100 mg/kg b.w.), and the groups that received ZnO-NPs plus ETO at the two tested doses. Blood and tissue samples were collected for different assays. The results showed that carvacrol and thymol were the major components in ETO among 13 compounds isolated by GC-MS. ZnO-NPs were nearly spherical and ETOs were round in shape with an average size of 38 and 311.8 nm, respectively. Administration of ZnO-NPs induced oxidative stress, DNA damage, biochemical, ctyogentical, and histological changes in rats. ETO at the tested doses alleviated these disturbances and showed protective effects against the hazards of ZnO-NPs. It could be concluded that encapsulation of thyme oil using whey protein isolate, maltodextrin, and gum Arabic improved the antioxidant properties of ETO, probably possess synergistic effects, and can be used as a promising tool in pharmaceutical and food applications.

Nanoencapsulation of Thyme Essential Oils: Formulation, Characterization, Storage Stability, and Biological Activity

“…The results of the GC-MS analysis of Thymus capitatus EO revealed the presence of 13 different compounds belonging to the phenolic and terpenic groups (Table 2). Similar results have been reported by Hassan et al [33]. Moreover, previous studies have indicated that the major component of thyme oil is carvacrol [34].…”

Oxaliplatin-loaded nanoemulsion containingTeucrium poliumL. essential oil induces apoptosis in Colon cancer cell lines through ROS-mediated pathway

“…However, the use of large-scale TPO is not feasible due to the hydrophobicity and volatility of the bioactive components of the oil (Esmaeili & Asgari, 2015 ). Thus, previous studies reported several attempts at incorporating the oil into different delivery systems (Mansouri et al., 2021 ; Almasi et al., 2021 ; Upadhyay et al., 2021 ; Hassan et al., 2021 ; Al-otaibi, 2021 ). A lot of attention has been focused on the use of nano-emulsions to deliver the oils by forming water-based products so as to enhance the solubility of the insoluble components (Donsì & Ferrari, 2016 ).…”