Figure 5.

Production of cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in response to curcumin-loaded poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles (CUR-NP) or free curcumin (0.1 mg/mL). ROS was measured in SK-OV-3 cells after exposure (for 45 min) to 2’,7’-dichlorofluorescin diacetate (25 µM) and incubation with CUR-NP or free curcumin for 4 h at 37 °C with subsequent irradiation (457 nm, 8.6 J/cm²). Tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) was used as positive control and non-irradiated cells served as negative control (Dark), whereas Blank represents untreated cells. Values are represented in relative fluorescence units (RFU). All samples were measured in triplicates (n = 9, independent formulations) and results are expressed as means ± SD.