Synthesis and characterization of selenium–chondroitin sulfate nanoparticles

A novel selenium–chondroitin sulfate (SeCS) was synthesized by ultrasonic and dialysis method. With characterization by FTIR, XRD and TEM, the SeCS was found to form nanoparticles in distilled water through a self-aggregation progress. The SeCS nanoparticles had sizes between 30 and 200 nm with selenium entrapment efficiency of about 10.1%. The anti-toxin capacity of SeCS nanoparticles was demonstrated through MTT and apoptosis assays in vitro. Results indicated that the SeCS was less cytotoxic to chondrocytes than sodium selenite. In particular, the SeCS could obviously alleviate chondrocyte apoptosis induced by T-2 toxin compared to chondroitin sulfate. These results thus represent an advanced understanding of the properties of SeCS nanoparticles and demonstrate their exciting potential applications in therapy of Kashin–Beck disease (KBD) and osteoarthritis.