Comparative Evaluation of the Efficacy of Milk and Milk Containing Nano-Curcumin on Lead Toxicity in Huh7-1x-ARE-luc cell-line

Oxidative substances are chemically reactive molecules and a byproduct of oxidative metabolism. Oxidative stress is one of the most lethal mechanisms in the toxicity of heavy metals such as lead. Since curcumin is an active ingredient in turmeric and has many properties, including antioxidant properties, the present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of milk and milk containing nano-curcumin on lead toxicity and to determine the effective concentration of nano-curcumin in controlling lead toxicity.

In the present study, the Huh7-1x-ARE-luc cell line, a biosensor of oxidative stress, was treated with 30μM of lead as a strong oxidant. Then the antioxidant effect of low-fat and high-fat milk (20, 40, and 80μL), nano-curcumin in antioxidant concentrations (4 and 8μM) and simultaneous treatment with the combination of these two antioxidants was tested using Luciferase assay.

Based on statistical analyses, the combination of milk and nano-curcumin (combination of 30μM lead, 20μL milk and 4μM nano-curcumin) was able to significantly reduce lead toxicity at low concentrations of milk compared to the milk without nano-curcumin (combination of 30μM lead and 80μL milk), with RLU of 1266 and 34000, respectively.

Nano-curcumin reveals a stronger antioxidant effect compared to milk, and ultimately, the combination of nano-curcumin and milk greatly neutralizes lead toxicity.