Preparation of Glucan Microparticles with Curcumin for Treatment of Idiopatic Inflammation Diseases

Glucan microparticles are hollow porous shells, which are obtained from cell walls of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker's yeast). Organels are removed from baker's yeast by alkaline and acidic extraction steps. Cell walls of glucan particles are mainly composed of β-1,3-glucans. Lymphatic cells are mainly presented in inflammation area in organism where are responsible for progress of inflammation [1]. Glucan particles (GP) interact with lympatic cell's receptors on their surface and after that β-1,3-glucans are phagocytosed by the lymphatic cells. Therefore, GP represent an effective oral delivery system for transporting of biological active subtances. Curcumin is an anti-inflammatory natural product which occurs in plants of family Zingiberaceae. In our project, curcumin was delivered to an inflammation in organism using GP. Loading of curcumin into GP was enabled via precipitation of curcumin from organic solvents. Curcumin dissolved in organic solvents was added to the GP and through pores penetrated into cavity of glucan shell. Next, the solvent was removed and the curcumin was precipitated in glucan microparticles. GP with the flavonoid inside were observed by confocal microscopy and SEM (scanning electron microscopy). The achieved content of curcumin was successfully analyzed by other methods, which can not be mentioned directly due to article in preparation. These composites are promising materials for biomedical applications such as an efficient treatment of inflammatory diseases (e.g. idiopatic inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoic arthritis).

Fig. 1: Scanning electron microscopy- Pure glucan particles

[1] Saloň, I, Hanuš, J, et al. Food and Bioproducts Processing. Elsevier, 2016, 7, 128 – 135