Arak University Colloid & Nanoscience Journal 2980-9215 3 2 2025 09 01 Downregulation of NLRP3 by synthesized nanoencapsulated quercetin in human monocyte-like macrophages 610 621 731486 10.61882/CNJ.3.2.610 EN Jalil Mehrzad Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran 0000-0001-8174-5431 Sepideh Moradkhani Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Bita Fazel Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Fatemeh Ayazi Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Javad Malakootikhah Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Alireza Khosravi Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Journal Article 2025 09 05 This study investigates the anti-inflammatory and pro-apoptotic properties of nanoencapsulated quercetin (QU) in a human monocyte-like macrophages (MLMs) model. Firstly, QU was purified using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Subsequently, the nanophytosome containing QU was prepared using the thin-film hydration method and its physicochemical properties were examined. Flow cytometry was conducted to analyze the apoptosis and necrosis of the MLMs. Also, gene expression of NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) in MLMs was done by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). The HPLC analysis revealed a specific peak for QU at a retention time (RT) of 10.367 minutes. Moreover, the formulated nanoencapsulated QU physicochemical properties was with a size, polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential, encapsulation efficiency (EE), loading capacity (LC) and 24-hour slow-release rate of <100 nm ~0.3, -35.7 mV, 95%, 69% and 21.95%, respectively. Further, flow cytometry confirmed the remarkable increased apoptosis (P< 0.0001) in MLMs treated with nanoencapsulated QU. Gene expression by qPCR showed marked down-regulation of the key pro-inflammatory marker, NLRP3 at mRRNA level. These findings highlight the potential of synthesizes nanophytosome QU as an anti-inflammatory and apoptosis-inducing factor in human immune cells, and thus pharmacotherapy and biomedicine. https://cnj.araku.ac.ir/article_731486_2b3aafabc20af7bf975e0af425cb47b3.pdf