Ahmad Taufiq, Ainun Nikmah, S.T.U. Intan Subadra, Arif Hidayat, Sunaryono Sunaryono, Nurul Hidayat, Hendra Susanto, Erlina Yustanti, Tahta Amrillah
Liver fibrosis is one of the main threats to human health. To date, antifibrosis drugs encompass several problems, such as the limited treatment effects, lack of drug targeting, and toxic side effects. To increase therapeutic efficacy in targeting liver fibrosis, future studies should focus on developing nanocarriers and effective therapeutic strategies. In this study, Fe3O4/SiO2/curcumin (Cur) nanohybrid composites have been successfully synthesized and used as antifibrotic agents. Structural studies using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray, and transmission electron microscopy were carried out. The magnetic properties of the nanohybrid composites were evaluated using vibrating sample magnetometry. Furthermore, preclinical antibacterial and antifungal assays were performed. From these characterizations, the increasing SiO2 composition in Fe3O4/SiO2/Cur nanohybrid composites resulted in decreased crystallinity from 90.42% to 73.16% and increased crystallite size from 8.5 nm to 15.6 nm, which is associated with the formation of a SiO2 shell on the Fe3O4 surface. EDX analysis showed that the elemental composition of the nanohybrid composites confirmed the presence of Fe, O, Si, and C, as the main constituents of Fe3O4, SiO2, and Cur. As the SiO2 composition increased, the nanohybrid composites exhibited superparamagnetic behavior with saturation magnetization decreased from 10.531 emu/g to 6.003 emu/g. The Fe3O4/SiO2/Cur nanohybrid composites showed excellent inhibition of bacterial and fungal growth, with inhibition zone diameters of B. subtilis (7.00–13.10) mm, E. coli (4.30–6.00) mm, and C. albicans (13.20–20.30) mm. Interestingly, the Fe3O4/SiO2/Cur nanohybrid composites significantly reduced serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels (p < 0.05). Therefore, the reduction suggests that the Fe3O4/SiO2/Cur nanohybrid composites can reduce CCl4-induced liver injury, which is closely linked to the mechanisms underlying antifibrotic agents. (Figure presented.) © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to the Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences 2026.
Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri Malang, Jawa Timur, Indonesia; Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri Malang, Jawa Timur, Indonesia; Department of Metallurgical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa University, Serang, Indonesia; Department of Nanotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Technology and Multidiscipline, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia
