Planta Med 2017; 83(10): 877-883
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-104633
Formulation and Delivery Systems of Natural Products
Original Papers
Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

New Curcumin-Loaded Chitosan Nanocapsules: In Vivo Evaluation

Edgar Marin
1   Institute of Scientific Research and High Technology Services, City of Knowledge, Panama, Republic of Panama
2   Nano Dispersions Technology, City of Knowledge, Panama, Republic of Panama
3   Department of Biotechnology, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur, India
,
Maria Isabel Briceño
2   Nano Dispersions Technology, City of Knowledge, Panama, Republic of Panama
,
Alicia Torres
4   Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Panama, Panama, Republic of Panama
,
Catherina Caballero-George
1   Institute of Scientific Research and High Technology Services, City of Knowledge, Panama, Republic of Panama
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

received 31 October 2016
revised 26 January 2017

accepted 10 February 2017

Publication Date:
06 March 2017 (online)

Abstract

The medicinal applications of curcumin, the major component of Curcuma longa, are limited by its poor solubility and low oral bioavailability. In order to overcome this limitation, a method to produce nanocapsules of chitosan loaded with curcumin was developed. Three different molecular weight and deacetylation degree chitosan polymers were used in the formulation in order to prepare curcumin-loaded nanocapsules (mass ratio 1 : 1.4). The best results were achieved using chitosan-Bi with a molecular weight of 710 000 Da. A bimodal distribution was observed in samples; moreover, chitosan-Bi produced the lowest particle size (197 nm). The entrapment efficacy of all chitosan nanocapsules produced reached values between 75 and 92 %. Their rate of drug release at different pH levels (2.0 and 7.4) showed a fast onset of curcumin release. Swiss mice were used to determine oral and total bioavailability of the new curcumin-loaded nanocapsules. Remarkably, the bioavailability of curcumin nanoformulated increased 9-fold compared with no formulated curcumin. These nanocapsules have the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, and its production is an easy to scale-up procedure using nontoxic materials.

Supporting Information

A scheme of preparation of CLNCs by the emulsion cross-linking method (Fig. 1S), the FTIR of curcumin, CLNC, and the CLNC after 30 days of storage (Fig. 2S), HPLC chromatograms of a standard containing 2.0 ng/mL of curcumin and plasma samples collected from mice after 10 min of oral administration (Fig. 3S) and a list of common ionic cross-linkers (Table 1S) are available as Supporting Information.

 
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