Preparation and Enhancement of Oral Bioavailability of Curcumin Using Microemulsions Vehicle

Abstract

A new microemulsions system of curcumin (CUR-MEs) was successfully developed to improve the solubility and bioavailability of curcumin. Several formulations of the microemulsions system were prepared and evaluated using different ratios of oils, surfactants, and co-surfactants (S&CoS). The optimal formulation, which consists of Capryol 90 (oil), Cremophor RH40 (surfactant), and Transcutol P aqueous solution (co-surfactant), could enhance the solubility of curcumin up to 32.5 mg/mL. The pharmacokinetic study of microemulsions was performed in rats compared to the corresponding suspension. The stability of microemulsions after dilution was excellence. Microemulsions have significantly increased the C(max) and area under the curve (AUC) in comparison to that in suspension (p < 0.05). The relative bioavailability of curcumin in microemulsions was 22.6-fold higher than that in suspension. The results indicated that the CUR-MEs could be used as an effective formulation for enhancing the oral bioavailability of curcumin.

Transdermal delivery of curcumin via microemulsion

“…Both high-rate chemical instability and the low solubility of CUR are a major problem that limits its use in liquid formulations and makes difficult for researchers to accomplish either in-vitro evaluation or in vivo bioavailability studies. Several approaches has been developed to improve CUR bioavailability and stability by loading the agent into liposomes (Li et al, 2005Kunwar et al, 2006), nanoparticles (Bisht et al, 2007(Bisht et al, , 2010Lim et al, 2011;Chun et al, 2012), and microemulsions (Cui et al, 2009;Hu et al, 2012). Further approaches include derivatives and analogs (Mosley et al, 2007), and phospholipid complexes (Liu et al, 2006;Maiti et al, 2007).…”

Enhancement of Oral Bioavailability of Curcumin by a Novel Solid Dispersion System

“…1), a hydrophobic polyphenol derived from the rhizome of turmeric (Curcuma longa) (1), is widely used as a natural yellow pigment in the food industries with its coloring, flavoring, and preservative utility (2). In recent years, curcumin has attracted widespread attention because of its good biological activities and pharmacological actions, such as anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic, anti-tumor, anti-oxidation, especially for its anti-carcinogenic potential (3,4).…”

Curcumin-loaded lipid nanocarrier for improving bioavailability, stability and cytotoxicity against malignant glioma cells

“…To improve bioavailability of CU, numerous approaches such as nanoparticles (Kakkar et al, 2011), liposome (Takahashi et al, 2009), microemulsion, (Hu et al, 2012) nanoemulsion (NE) (Kashif et al, 2012) self-microemulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS), (Cui et al, 2009) micelle (Zengshuan et al, 2007), solid dispersion (Onoue et al, 2010) and phospholipid-complexes (Maiti et al, 2007) had been developed. These systems provide certain advantages over dietary consumption such as longer circulation, better permeability, and resistance to metabolic processes.…”