The aims of this study were to design the formulation of curcumin (CUR) liposomes coated with N-trimethyl chitosan chloride (TMC) and to evaluate in vitro release characteristics and in vivo pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of TMC-coated CUR liposomes in rats. The structure of synthesized TMC was examined by infrared spectroscopy, with the presence of trimethyl groups, and by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, indicating the high degree of substitution quaternization (65.6%). Liposomes, composed of soybean phosphotidylcholine, cholestrol, and D-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate, were prepared by a thin-film dispersion method. Characteristics of the CUR liposomes, including entrapment efficiency (86.67%), drug-loading efficiency (2.33%), morphology, particle size (221.4 nm for uncoated liposomes and 657.7 nm for TMC-coated liposomes), and zeta potential (-9.63 mV for uncoated liposomes and +15.64 mV for TMC-coated liposomes) were investigated. Uncoated CUR liposomes and TMC-coated CUR liposomes showed a similar in vitro release profile. Nearly 50% of CUR was released from liposomes, whereas 80% of CUR was released from CUR propylene glycol solution. CUR incorporated into TMC-coated liposomes exhibited different pharmacokinetic parameters and enhanced bioavailability (C(max) = 46.13 μg/L, t(1/2) = 12.05 hours, AUC = 416.58 μg/L·h), compared with CUR encapsulated by uncoated liposomes (C(max) = 32.12 μg/L, t(1/2) = 9.79 hours, AUC = 263.77 μg/L·h) and CUR suspension (C(max) = 35.46 μg/L, t(1/2) = 3.85 hours, AUC = 244.77 μg/L·h). In conclusion, oral delivery of coated CUR liposomes is a promising strategy for poorly water-soluble CUR.

No abstract

Abstract-Periodic eigenproblems describing the dispersion behavior of periodically loaded waveguiding structures are considered as resonating systems. In analogy to resonators, their eigenvalues and eigensolutions are determined by solving corresponding excitation problems directly in the domain of the eigenvalue. Arbitrary excitations can be chosen in order to excite the desired modal solutions, where in particular lumped ports and volumetric current distributions are considered. The method is employed together with a doubly periodic hybrid finite element boundary integral technique, which is able to consider complex propagation constants in the periodic boundary conditions and the Green's functions. Other numerical solvers such as commercial simulation packages can also be employed with the proposed procedure, where complex propagation constants are typically not directly supported. However, for propagating waves with relatively small attenuation, it is shown that the attenuation constant can be determined by perturbation methods. Numerical results for composite right/left-handed waveguides and for the leaky modes of a grounded dielectric slab are presented.

No abstract

No abstract