Design of Curcumin Loaded Polymeric Nanoparticles-Optimization, Formulation and Characterization

The role of Curcumin for treatment of diseases like colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease has become the area of growing interest. It has a low intrinsic toxicity and magnificent properties like anti-inflammatory, anti-mutagenic, anti-oxidant, with comparatively lesser side-effects. However, because of its poor solubility, low absorption and poor bioavailability, they are not efficient to be used for clinical purposes. Formation of nanoparticles proved very much promising to increase absorption and bioavailability, leading to the effective drug administration. In this study curcumin encapsulated polymeric nanoparticles are prepared to enhance bioavailability of the hydrophobic drug. Two methods of preparation of nanoparticles are explored—(a) a conventional precipitation method and (b) rapid precipitation method using Multi Inlet Vortex Mixer (MIVM). The particles from both the methods are purified using rotavap and dried by hot-air oven or lyophilizer. Nanoparticles with well-defined properties were obtained using MIVM. An optimization study was done to obtain desired particle size. Dynamic light scattering showed the particle sizes were between 150–400 nm. The Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) results showed that the drug in the nanoparticles was in the amorphous state. From the analysis, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), stability and intactness of entrapped drug in the nanoparticles was shown. The drug loading in the nanoparticles was in the range of 19–23 wt%. The drug from the nanoparticle showed higher solubility compared to the pure as-received drug.