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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)

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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.

Key words

Curcuma longa - Zingiberaceae - curcumin - chitosan - nanocapsules - cross-linking - drug carrier

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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