Cerium Oxide-Decorated γ-Fe2O3 Nanoparticles: Design, Synthesis and in vivo Effects on Parameters of Oxidative Stress

Maksym Moskvin; Irena Marková; Hana Malínská; Denisa Miklánková; Martina Hüttl; Olena Oliyarnyk; Ognen Pop-Georgievski; Alexander Zhigunov; Eduard Petrovský; Daniel Horák

doi:10.3389/fchem.2020.00682

Cerium Oxide-Decorated γ-Fe₂O₃ Nanoparticles: Design, Synthesis and in vivo Effects on Parameters of Oxidative Stress

Front Chem. 2020 Aug 4:8:682. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2020.00682. eCollection 2020.

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czechia.
² Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czechia.
³ Institute of Geophysics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czechia.

Abstract

Magnetic γ-Fe₂O₃/CeO_x nanoparticles were obtained by basic coprecipitation/oxidation of iron chlorides with hydrogen peroxide, followed by precipitation of Ce(NO₃)₃ with ammonia. The appearance of CeO_x on the magnetic particle surface was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), and elemental analysis; a magnetometer was used to measure the magnetic properties of γ-Fe₂O₃/CeO_x. The relatively high saturation magnetization of the particles (41.1 A·m²/kg) enabled magnetic separation. The surface of γ-Fe₂O₃/CeO_x particles was functionalized with PEG-neridronate of two different molecular weights to ensure colloidal stability and biocompatibility. The ability of the particles to affect oxidative stress in hereditary hypertriglyceridemic (HHTg) rats was tested by biological assay of the liver, kidney cortex, and brain tissues. An improvement was observed in both enzymatic [superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx)] and non-enzymatic (reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) glutathione) levels of antioxidant defense and lipid peroxidation parameters [4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) and malondialdehyde (MDA)]. The results corresponded with chemical determination of antioxidant activity based on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, proving that in the animal model γ-Fe₂O₃/CeO_x@PEG_2,000 nanoparticles effectively scavenged radicals due to the presence of cerium oxide, in turn decreasing oxidative stress. These particles may therefore have the potential to reduce disorders associated with oxidative stress and inflammation.

Keywords: antioxidant; cerium oxide; maghemite; nanoparticles; oxidative stress.