Lipid Based Nanosystems for Curcumin: Past, Present and Future

Abstract

Curcumin is one of the principle bioactive compounds used in the ayurvedic medicine system that has the history of over 5000 years for human use. Curcumin an "Indian Gold" is used to treat simple ailments like the common cold to severe life threatening diseases like cancer, and HIV. Though its contribution is immense for the health protection and disease prevention, its clinical use is limited due to its susceptible nature to alkaline pH, high temperature, presence of oxygen and light. Hence it becomes extremely difficult to maintain its bioactivity during processing, storage and consumption. Recent advancements in the application of nanotechnology to curcumin offer an opportunity to enhance its stability, bioactivity and to overcome its pharmacokinetic mismatch. This in turn helps to bridge the gaps that exist between its bench top research data to its clinical findings. Among the various types of nano/micro delivery systems, lipid based delivery systems are well studied and are the best suited delivery systems to enhance the stability and pharmacokinetic profile of curcumin both for pharma and the food application. In the current review, effort will be made to recapitulate the work done in the past to use lipid based delivery systems (liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, and emulsions) to enhance the application of curcumin for health promotion and disease prevention. Further, future prospects for the utilization of these lipid-based delivery systems will be discussed in detail.

Curcumin modulation of the activation of PYK2 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with lupus nephritis

“…Curcumin is a polyphenolic compound derived from the roots of the plant Curcuma longa , which is used in traditional Asian medicine [ 3 , 4 ]. Curcumin has been shown to exhibit immunomodulatory properties in lots of diseases [ 5 , 6 ]. A previous study showed that curcumin can modulate the cellular response and growth of cells within the immune system [ 7 ].…”

Tocotrienol Nanoemulsion Platform of Curcumin Elicit Elevated Apoptosis and Augmentation of Anticancer Efficacy against Breast and Ovarian Carcinomas

“…Therefore, combination of bioactive natural compounds, such as CUR and δ-T3, that targets dysregulated NF-κB signaling along with apoptosis induction would be an important strategy to enhance the cytotoxic efficacy of cancer therapy [9,15,16]. However, the poor solubility and bioavailability profiles of these compounds remain the major challenges to realizing their translational application in the clinic [6,17]. …”

“…In this regard, many attempts have been conceived for CUR nano-systems to improve the drug’s solubility, enhance its in vivo bioavailability and maximize its biological activity, including, liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, niosomes, polymeric nanoparticles, polymeric micelles, cyclodextrins, dendrimers, and silver and gold nanoparticles [3,4,17]. Out of these, a nano-emulsification technique has been quite successful, taking advantage of the lipophilic character of CUR, rather than chemical modification or conjugation [6,18].…”

Polyphenols Modulating Effects of PD-L1/PD-1 Checkpoint and EMT-Mediated PD-L1 Overexpression in Breast Cancer

“…Curcumin is a natural polyphenol compound extracted from the turmeric roots and used for a long time as a traditional medicine in the Ayurveda [ 209 , 210 , 211 ]. This compound has demonstrated various pharmacological properties, including antioxidant [ 212 ], anti-inflammatory [ 213 ], antimicrobial [ 214 ], immunomodulatory [ 215 ], and hepatoprotective [ 216 ] properties.…”