Comparative Study of Serum Albumin Interactions with ZnO, NiO, and TiO₂ Nanoparticles in Healthy and Type 2 Diabetic Serum

Serum proteins such as albumin undergo structural and biochemical alterations associated with chronic hyperglycemia, particularly in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). Understanding the interactions between serum albumin and inorganic nanomaterials provides a useful foundation for investigating nanoparticle–protein interactions in biomedical research. In this study, zinc oxide (ZnO), nickel oxide (NiO), and titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical precipitation and characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The adsorption behavior of serum albumin toward these metal oxide nanoparticles was evaluated under selected nanoparticle concentrations and incubation conditions using a modified Bromocresol Green (BCG) assay. The quantitative results demonstrated that nanoparticle composition and physical form influenced the observed albumin adsorption behavior. For dry powder interfaces, the magnitude of adsorption followed the order ZnO > NiO > TiO₂, whereas for dispersed aqueous suspensions at 1.0 mg/mL, the order was NiO > TiO₂ > ZnO. In human serum samples, ZnO nanoparticles showed a statistically significant difference in albumin adsorption between diabetic and healthy groups (p = 0.03), whereas NiO suspensions exhibited high but not significantly different adsorption between the two groups (p = 0.18). These findings indicate differences in albumin–nanoparticle interactions between diabetic and healthy serum samples and provide preliminary experimental evidence for further investigation of metal oxide nanoparticles in biomedical and future nanodiagnostic research.