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Curcumin is a well-known natural anti-inflammatory agent derived from turmeric, and it is commonly used as an herbal food supplement. Nowadays, the use of curcumin has also reached the biomedical and tissue engineering fields. To overcome the hydrophobicity of curcumin, nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesised using a solvent evaporation, oil-in-water emulsion method. The curcumin nanoparticles were incorporated into a polymer (polylactic acid - PLA), as polymeric nanoparticles can offer controlled drug release. The newly synthesized curcumin nanoparticles were analysed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), where results showed the nanoparticles had a size ranging from 50-250nm. Three concentrations of the nanoparticles (0%, 0.5%, and 2%) were seeded onto NHI/3T3 fibroblast cells for the evaluation of cytotoxicity using Alamar Blue assay. Then, the curcumin NPs were incorporated into an alginate/gelatin-based solution, prior to crosslinking using a calcium chloride solution 200nM. Hydrogels were then characterised regarding their chemical, mechanical and rheological properties. Following hydrogel optimization, the hydrogel-loaded 2% curcumin NPs was selected as a bio-ink for 3D printing. The biological assessment of the hydrogel-doped 2% curcumin NPs was conducted using THP-1 cells, a human monocytic cell line. Cell viability and immunomodulation were evaluated using lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) enzyme-linked immunosorbent (ELISA) assay, respectively. Results show that the hydrogel-loaded 2% curcumin NPs was cytocompatible and supressed the production of TNF-α. In conclusion, curcumin NPs were successfully developed and incorporated to an alginate/gelatin bio-ink precursor for 3D printing applications. This novel bio-ink demonstrates desirable properties for the supresison of immune cell activation and inflammation, particularly interesting in the fabrication of tissue engineering constructs.
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