A novel curcumin-loaded nanoparticle restricts atherosclerosis development and promotes plaques stability in apolipoprotein E deficient mice

Abstract

Although curcumin possesses anti-atherogenic and anti-inflammatory properties, its application is limited because of its low aqueous solubility and poor oral bioavailability. Recently, our group synthesized a novel linear-dendrimer methoxy-poly (ethylene glycol)-b-poly(ε-caprolactone) copolymer nanoparticle loading curcumin (Cur-NPs) which could improve solubility and release property of curcumin. In the present study, we further evaluated its anti-atherosclerotic effect in apolipoprotein E−/− mice. Our results demonstrated that the Cur-NPs significantly decreased atherosclerotic lesion areas and were more effective in stabilizing vulnerable plaques compared with free curcumin. The anti-atherosclerotic mechanisms of Cur-NPs include decreasing the number of introplaque microvessels, inhibiting the matrix metalloproteinase 2 and 9 activity, reducing the inflammatory response and regulating lipoprotein cholesterol metabolism more effectively compared with free curcumin. Furthermore, Cur-NPs could increase the amount of curcumin in the thoracic aorta and no significant toxicity was observed in the blood biochemical parameters in Cur-NPs-treated groups. Overall, our findings suggested that Cur-NPs could be a stabilized aqueous formulation for application with improved curcumin activity, which could be a potential treatment strategy for arteriosclerosis in the future.

Efficacy of Curcumin on Aortic Atherosclerosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis in Mouse Studies and Insights into Possible Mechanisms

“…Among these, 8 studies [11,[22][23][24][25][26][27] were excluded due to no available outcome data that met our inclusion criteria, and one study [28] was excluded because of the improper participants (not mice). Thus, we included 10 eligible studies [8,9,12,17,18,[29][30][31][32][33] in this systematic review and metaanalysis. Two of the studies [17,18] contained multiple dosages of curcumin and were then considered a total of six independent experiments as we have mentioned in the eligibility criteria.…”

<p>Nano Encapsulated Curcumin: And Its Potential for Biomedical Applications</p>

“…As described above, plenty of studies reported that different Cur-loaded nanoformulations showed anti-tumor effects for many types of cancer. Furthermore, curcumin nanoformulations exhibited the potential applications for the prevention and treatment of other diseases, such as brain injury, 168,169 wound healing, 170,171 malaria, 172,173 asthma, 174 psoriasis, 175 arteriosclerosis, 176 leishmaniasis, 177 bacterial infection 8 (Table 3), etc.…”

Nanotechnological approach to delivering nutraceuticals as promising drug candidates for the treatment of atherosclerosis

“…The NPs were developed with the aim of passive targeting against atherosclerotic plaque, which demonstrated to selectively reduce the plaque formation in the murine Apo E 2/2 and LDLr 2/2 models, thus confirming the enhancement of redox-based interventions and anti-inflammatory activity in atherosclerosis (Sophie Maiocchi et al, 2020). Dendrimer-based polymer NPs synthesized using methoxy poly (ethylene glycol)-b-poly(ecaprolactone) copolymer encapsulating Curcumin (Cur) is a step in the translation of nutraceutical-based nano delivery approaches which effectively showed a reduction in the atherosclerotic lesion and stabilized the vulnerable plaques in Apo E 2/2 mice (Meng et al, 2019).…”