Core–shell microencapsulation of curcumin in PLGA microparticles: programmed for application in ovarian cancer therapy

Abstract

In our study, we have established a novel liquid-driven co-flow focusing (LDCF) process to fabricate curcumin (CUR)-loaded poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) microparticles (CPMs). LDCF-CPMs of size 20.26 ± 2.37 lm have high encapsulation efficiency (>70%) and were intended for application in ovarian cancer by intraperitoneal (IP) administration. LDCF-CPMs have smooth surface with narrow size distribution and a core-shell structured verified by confocal microscopy which can be precisely controlled by changing the flow rates of focusing, outer and inner phases. The LDCF-CPMs reveal the physiochemical stability with sustained release profile corresponding to 95% CUR release over a period of 14 days in an in vitro release medium. Moreover, LDCF-CPMs were testified for cytotoxicity against SKOV-3 ovarian cancer cell lines and peritoneal delivery advantages by animal experiments. The pharmacokinetics of LDCF-CPMs in rats following IP injection shows slow systemic absorption with mean residence time (MRT) of 13.54 h in comparison with 9.82 and 6.74 h for SE-CPMs and free CUR, respectively. In addition, IP delivery of CUR can expose the ovarian tumour to higher concentration for a longer duration by programming the thickness of the shell. The study provides compelling evidence for LDCF-CPMs having high therapeutic opportunity in the treatment of peritoneal cancers, such as ovarian, that reside in the peritoneal cavity.

Recent advances in the formulation of PLGA microparticles for controlled drug delivery

“…This chip is made up of three injection pumps, a core device including a coaxial needle and a pressure chamber, a collector, a safety waster system and a monitor system. This chip gives curcumin-loaded MPs with a narrow size distribution while maximizing drug encapsulation efficiency and drug loading rate with a programmed drug release profile (Dwivedi et al 2018). Through microfluidics, it is possible to obtain MPs with a narrow size distribution, a precise control of the droplet size and a correct morphology (Amoyav et al 2019).…”

“…Microfluidic devices give an excellent control of the whole preparation and manipulation processes: flow rate, pressure and viscosity can be modulated, and the fine control of these parameters eliminates errors and allows to achieve a process waste solution of almost 0% (Anon n.d.). Another advantage is the homogeneous mixing of the fluids and the possibility to work in the microliters since picolitres range (Dwivedi et al 2018). Anyway, microfluidic technology shows some negative aspects as the compatibility of the polymers used for the microchannel production with various organic solvents.…”

“…Other methods/analyses have been recently reported in literature to evaluate encapsulation efficacy and structural and chemical integrity of drugs. For example, thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), glass transition (T g ) temperature measured using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) (Dwivedi et al 2018), attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) (Noviendri et al 2016) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) (Xia et al 2017) of PLGA MPs were employed for controlling drug stability. The interaction between drug and polymer can be studied by FITR spectroscopy: Keles et al (2014) used FTIR spectroscopic imaging to evaluate the redistribution and release of hGH from a range of PLGA/PLA MPs.…”

Erythrocyte Membrane Cloaked Curcumin-Loaded Nanoparticles for Enhanced Chemotherapy

“…The p-PLGA method proved to be an effective route to develop Cur-loaded NPs, and our materials are superior to other Cur delivery systems in the literature. For instance, Dwivedi et al used a liquid-driven co-flow focusing process to fabricate Cur loaded PLGA NPs and obtained an encapsulation efficiency of approximately 70% [49]. In addition, Jamali et al used a nanoprecipitation method to encapsulate Cur in PLGA NPs and the encapsulation efficiency and drug loading efficiency were calculated to be 27% and 4.5%, respectively [50].…”

Sustained release paclitaxel-loaded core-shell-structured solid lipid microparticles for intraperitoneal chemotherapy of ovarian cancer

“…The T max was shifted from 1 h of Taxol V R group to 2 h of PTX-SLMPs group. This difference in C max and the shift in T max might be attributed to the amount of free PTX absorbed into the systemic circulation from Taxol V R , whereas PTX-SLMPs have sustained release property and were greater in size that cannot be transported across the peritoneum [52,53]. The absorption into the systemic circulation occurs only after PTX will release from the PTX-SLMPs.…”