Anti-Inflammation and Joint Lubrication Dual Effects of a Novel Hyaluronic Acid/Curcumin Nanomicelle Improve the Efficacy of Rheumatoid Arthritis Therapy

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease, which can cause endless suffering to the patients and severely impact their normal lives. To treat RA, the drugs in use have many serious side effects, high cost, or only focus on their anti-inflammatory mechanisms without taking joint lubrication into consideration. Therefore, in this study, we aim to construct a novel anti-RA drug composed of hyaluronic acid/curcumin (HA/Cur) nanomicelle to resolve these problems. Characterizations show that Cur is bound to HA by ester linkages and self-assembles to form a spherical nanomicelle with a diameter of around 164 nm under the main driving of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic forces. The nanomicelle enjoys excellent biocompatibility that effectively promotes the proliferation of chondrocytes. When injected to the RA rats, the nanomicelle significantly lowers the edema degree of the arthritic rats compared to other groups; more critically, a dramatic decrease in friction between the surfaces of cartilage around the joints has been found, which protects the cartilage from the RA-induced damage. Additionally, systematic mechanism investigation indicates that the nanomicelle diminishes the expression of related cytokines and vascular endothelial growth factor, finally leading to the excellent performance. The newfound nanomicelle has a potential for clinical practice of RA therapy, which will contribute significantly to alleviating the pain of patients and improving the quality of life for them.

Effect of curcumin nanomicelle on the clinical symptoms of patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A randomized, double‐blind, controlled trial

“…Curcumin‐loaded solid lipid nanoparticles compared to free curcumin dose‐dependently reduced various symptoms of arthritis in complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)‐induced arthritis in rats . Furthermore, hyaluronic acid/curcumin nanomicelle has anti‐inflammatory effects and could reduce friction of joints in RA rats . On the other hand, a new formulation of curcumin, as curcumin‐loaded hyalurosomes, was prepared for local treatment of RA and could be effective against oxidative damage and inflammatory response in fibroblast‐like synovial cells cultured in synovial fluid of patients …”

Thermo‐Sensitive Dual‐Functional Nanospheres with Enhanced Lubrication and Drug Delivery for the Treatment of Osteoarthritis

“…The restoration of joint lubrication is crucial for the treatment of osteoarthritis and it has received intensivea ttention in recent years. [33,34] Therefore, it is necessary to explore the lubrication properties of the PNIPAM and PNIPAM-PMPC nanospheres and investigate whether the nanospheres( especially PNIPAM-PMPC) have the potentialt oe nhance joint lubrication. The result of the lubrication testu nder various conditions for the PNIPAM and PNIPAM-PMPCn anospheresi sp resented in Figure4.F igure 4a,bshows the influence of the MPC content and concentration of the nanosphere aqueous suspension on the lubrication properties.…”

Hyaluronan-Based Nanofibers: Fabrication, Characterization and Application

“…HA/curcumin nanomicelles were applied in rheumatoid arthritis therapy [84]. The process for the preparation of micelles was carried out in dark to avoid the degradation of curcumin.…”