Despite having tremendous medicinal benefits, the practical
applications
of curcumin are limited, owing to two major challenges: poor aqueous
solubility and lack of bioavailability. In this regard, biosurfactant-based
micellar systems have surged recently for the development of novel
and more effective formulations because of their biological relevance.
This study deals with a comprehensive and comparative investigation
on the effect of seven structurally different steroidal surfactants
on the photophysical properties of curcumin and also evaluates these
steroidal surfactants as possible drug delivery media for curcumin.
The photophysical properties of curcumin exhibited a strong dependence
on the structure of the steroidal surfactant; the extent of excited-state
proton transfer between curcumin and the surfactants depends strongly
on the type of the side chain in the surfactants, which mostly dictates
the photophysics of curcumin in the presence of these structural variants.
The solubility of curcumin and its stability at different pHs and
temperatures and in the presence of salt are significantly enhanced
in the presence of these surfactants. Furthermore, the curcumin-loaded
micelles exhibited improved intracellular uptake and cytotoxicity
against MCF-7 cancer cells than pristine curcumin. Among these steroidal
surfactants, CHAPS, the zwitterionic derivative of cholic acid, was
the most efficient one to offer better solubility and stability to
curcumin under all conditions, and the death rate of MCF-7 cells by
curcumin was found to be the highest in the presence of CHAPS, indicating
the enhanced bioavailability of curcumin. Therefore, CHAPS-based colloids
are found to be promising candidates as potential drug carriers for
curcumin.
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