Enhanced Potential of Therapeutic Applications of Curcumin Using Solid-in-Water Nanodispersion Technique

Abstract

Curcumin (Cur), a hydrophobic polyphenol compound, holds promising potential as an anticancer agent. However, the poor solubility in water and the low bioavailability of curcumin have limited its therapeutic applications. In this regard, we reported the formulation of curcumin using a solid-in-water (S/W) nanodispersion technique to enhance the water solubility and therapeutic activity of curcumin. This new aqueous formulation comprises simple preparation protocols: emulsi cation and freeze-drying for encapsulating hydrophobic biomolecules with a hydrophilic surfactant, followed by redispersion of the resultant solid complexes in an aqueous solution. Pluronics F68 and F127 were used here for the encapsulation of curcumin. Enhanced aqueous solubility of curcumin was achieved by encapsulating curcumin with a hydrophilic surfactant using the S/W nanodispersion technique. The resultant nanosized formulation had a narrow size distribution and high entrapment e ciency of curcumin. The highest loading capacity of curcumin in S/W nanodispersion was obtained with a weight ratio of curcumin to pluronic of 1 : 10 for both surfactants. The release pro le of the complexes was found to depend on the type of surfactant, suggesting that the selection of a proper surfactant is crucial for controlling curcumin delivery. The anticancer activity of the S/W formulation of curcumin was correlated with the drug release pro les and cellular uptake, which in turn was in uenced by the hydrophobicity and chemical structure of the surfactant.

Self-assemblies of pluronic micelles in partitioning of anticancer drugs and effectiveness of this system towards target protein

“…F68 contains fewer hydrophobic, PPO units in comparison to F127. The HLB ratio (hydrophilic to lipophilic ratio) of F127 and F68 are 22 and 29, 35 respectively. The greater hydrophobicity of F127 compared to F68 can be accounted for the smaller CMC value of the former.…”

Enhancement of Curcumin Anti-Inflammatory Effect via Formulation into Myrrh Oil-Based Nanoemulgel

“…Chowdhury et al, studied an approach to enhance Cur solubility via developing a curcumin–ionic liquid complex [ 23 ]. Moreover, Hardiningtyas et al, applied a solid-in-water nanodispersion technique to incorporate Cur and magnify its therapeutic action [ 24 ].…”

Curcumin Nanoemulsion: Evaluation of Stability and Anti-Cancer Activity <i>In Vitro</i>

“…As shown in Table 2, the acquired IC50 value for curcumin nanoemulsion in 50% inhibiting of Hela cells proliferation was 8.6 μM (3.5 μg/mL). The IC50 value of 8.6 μM against Hela cervical cancer cell line indicates that this type nanoemulsion exhibited greatly improved cytotoxicity as compared with free curcumin (IC50 ~ 10 μg/mL) [31], and better cytotoxicity when compared to many other previously reported curcumin-based compounds which have IC50 values in a range between 8.2 μM and 17.67 μM [32][33][34]. According to these authors' reports, the effect of curcumin on HeLa cell proliferation based on IC50 values was 13.8 μM [32] when determined by sulfurhodamine B assay, while the another value of 17.67 μM was reported for Hela cell inhibition by using MTT assay [33].…”