Molecular encapsulation study of indole-3-methanol in cyclodextrins: Effect on antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity

Abstract We investigated the encapsulation of indole-3-methanol(IM) within the nanocage of β-cyclodextrin(β-CD) and hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin(HP-β-CD). The formation of encapsulated complexes have been confirmed by the experimental studies such as UV-Visible, Fluorescence, 1H NMR, DSC, SEM, surface tension, FT-IR and mass spectrometry. DSC study revealed that the inclusion into CDs can enhance the thermal stability of IM. Molecular docking studies provided useful insight on the encapsulation mode of IM molecule into the cavity of CDs. The antimicrobial activity of IM was considerably improved after encapsulation. Further, the encapsulated complexes expressed low cytotoxic effect than free IM on the normal liver cell line WRL-68.