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Pharmaceutics
Special Issues
Curcumin Nanoparticles: Delivery and Therapy
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Curcumin Nanoparticles: Delivery and Therapy

A special issue of Pharmaceutics (ISSN 1999-4923). This special issue belongs to the section "Drug Delivery and Controlled Release".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2024) | Viewed by 4405

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Amit Kunwar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Radiation and Photochemistry Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, India
Interests: selenium biochemistry; curcumin delivery; radiation biology; cancer chemotherapeutics; drug delivery system; nanobiotechnology
Dr. Atanu Barik

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Radiation and Photochemistry Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, India
Interests: free radical chemistry; radiation chemistry; molecular photochemistry; drug delivery system

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Curcumin is a natural polyphenol pigment derived from rhizomes of turmeric (Curcuma longa), a spice plant that is mainly grown in the Asian subcontinent. It has been used as Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine to treat inflammatory diseases since ancient times. Extensive scientific research on the molecular mechanisms of actions of this compound has established that it is a pleotropic molecule affecting various signal transduction pathways associated with inflammation and cancer. The pharmacological effects of curcumin have been observed, not only in vitro but also in animal models. Despite all these merits, the clinical translation of curcumin has been limited, mainly due to its poor aqueous solubility and stability, faster first-pass metabolism and, in turn, poor bioavailability. Recent studies have shown that a nanoparticle-based drug-delivery system can overcome these limitations. Importantly, there is growing evidence suggesting that physicochemical properties such as the shape, size, and chemical composition of nanoparticles play an important role in tuning the release, pharmacokinetics and metabolic stability of curcumin within a biological system. Different nanomaterials have been reported for curcumin delivery: protein nanoparticles, liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, nano-emulsions, nanogels, polymeric nanoparticles, etc. Among these, nano-formulations derived from carbohydrates, protein and lipids have gained a lot of significance due to their bio-compatibility and the ease of clinical translation. Indeed, several nutraceutical formulations of curcumin, prepared using carbohydrates, protein and lipids, are already available on the market.

In this Special Issue of the Pharmaceutics journal, we want to reach out to our esteemed researcher to contribute their state-of-the-art research work based on curcumin delivery though various nanoparticle-based drug-delivery systems. The Special Issue also aims to include contributions related to recent updates on the clinical translation of curcumin nano-formulation for therapeutic application. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Amit Kunwar
Dr. Atanu Barik
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pharmaceutics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • curcumin
  • drug delivery system
  • nano-formulation
  • bioavailability
  • therapeutic efficacy
  • clinical trial
  • pharmacology
  • in vitro study
  • in vivo study
  • pharmacokinetics
  • metabolic stability

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 4219 KiB  
Article
Curcumin as a Stabilizer of Macrophage Polarization during Plasmodium Infection
by Maria Clara C. Cordeiro, Fernanda D. Tomé, Felipe S. Arruda, Simone Gonçalves da Fonseca, Patrícia R. A. Nagib and Mara R. N. Celes
Pharmaceutics 2023, 15(10), 2505; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics15102505 - 21 Oct 2023
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Abstract
Malaria is a parasitic infection responsible for high morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. During the disease, phagocytosis of infected red blood cells by the macrophages induces the production of reactive oxygen (ROS) and nitrogen species (RNS), culminating in parasite death. Curcumin (CUR) is [...] Read more.
Malaria is a parasitic infection responsible for high morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. During the disease, phagocytosis of infected red blood cells by the macrophages induces the production of reactive oxygen (ROS) and nitrogen species (RNS), culminating in parasite death. Curcumin (CUR) is a bioactive compound that has been demonstrated to reduce the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines produced by macrophages but to reduce parasitemia in infected mice. Hence, the main purpose of this study is to investigate whether curcumin may interfere with macrophage function and polarization after Plasmodium berghei infection in vitro. In our findings, non-polarized macrophage (M0), classically activated (M1), and alternatively activated (M2) phenotypes showed significantly increased phagocytosis of infected red blood cells (iRBCs) when compared to phagocytosis of uninfected red blood cells (RBCs) 3 h after infection. After 24 h, M1 macrophages exposed to RBCs + CUR showed greater elimination capacity when compared to macrophages exposed to iRBCs + CUR, suggesting the interference of curcumin with the microbicidal activity. Additionally, curcumin increased the phagocytic activity of macrophages when used in non-inflammatory conditions (M0) and reduced the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and arginase activities in all macrophage phenotypes infected (M0, M1, and M2), suggesting interference in arginine availability by curcumin and balance promotion in macrophage polarization in neutral phenotype (M0). These results support the view of curcumin treatment in malaria as an adjuvant, promoting a balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory responses for a better clinical outcome. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Curcumin Nanoparticles: Delivery and Therapy)
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Review

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16 pages, 3937 KiB  
Review
Alginate and Chitosan-Based Delivery Systems for Improving the Bioavailability and Therapeutic Efficacy of Curcumin
by Anand A. Sable, Amit Kunwar and Atanu Barik
Pharmaceutics 2024, 16(3), 423; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics16030423 - 19 Mar 2024
Viewed by 777
Abstract
One of the major challenges in harnessing the therapeutic benefits of curcumin (an active ingredient from turmeric) is its poor bioavailability due to its short biological half-life. In this regard, nanoformulations have shown tremendous hope for improving the pharmacokinetic and therapeutic behavior of [...] Read more.
One of the major challenges in harnessing the therapeutic benefits of curcumin (an active ingredient from turmeric) is its poor bioavailability due to its short biological half-life. In this regard, nanoformulations have shown tremendous hope for improving the pharmacokinetic and therapeutic behavior of curcumin by altering its biological stability and bioavailability. Biopolymers, especially alginate and chitosan, have received special attention as excipients to prepare nanoformulations of curcumin due to their abundant availability, biocompatibility, and amicability to form different types of self-assembled structures and ease of undergoing chemical modifications. However, there are certain challenges, such as poor water solubility under physiological conditions and heterogeneity with regard to molecular weight and large-scale production of well-preserved nanostructures. Substantial advancement has been achieved towards overcoming these challenges by developing newer derivatives through a chemical modifications approach, and this has ascertained the suitability of alginate and chitosan as excipients for drug delivery systems (DDS). The present minireview briefly discusses curcumin and its limitation as a drug molecule, carbohydrates as DDS, and the recent developments related to the alginate and chitosan-based nanoformulations of curcumin. Special emphasis has been given to highlighting the impact of alginate and chitosan-based nanoformulations in improving the therapeutic efficacy and bioavailability of curcumin. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Curcumin Nanoparticles: Delivery and Therapy)
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17 pages, 1846 KiB  
Review
Curcumin for Treating Breast Cancer: A Review of Molecular Mechanisms, Combinations with Anticancer Drugs, and Nanosystems
by Jing Zhu, Qian Li, Zhongping Wu, Ying Xu and Rilei Jiang
Pharmaceutics 2024, 16(1), 79; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics16010079 - 05 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1616
Abstract
Breast cancer (BC) has become the fifth most prevalent cause of cancer-related morbidity, attracting significant attention from researchers due to its heightened malignancy and drug resistance. Conventional chemotherapy approaches have proven inadequate in addressing all BC subtypes, highlighting the urgent need for novel [...] Read more.
Breast cancer (BC) has become the fifth most prevalent cause of cancer-related morbidity, attracting significant attention from researchers due to its heightened malignancy and drug resistance. Conventional chemotherapy approaches have proven inadequate in addressing all BC subtypes, highlighting the urgent need for novel therapeutic approaches or drugs. Curcumin (CUR), a phytochemical derived from Curcuma longa (turmeric), has shown substantial potential in inhibiting BC cell migration, metastasis, and proliferation. However, the use of CUR in this context comes with challenges due to its dynamic and easily degradable nature, poor aqueous solubility, low bioavailability, rapid metabolism, and swift systemic elimination, collectively limiting its clinical applications. As such, we provide an overview of the properties, synthesis, and characterization of the hybridization of CUR and its analogue with chemo-drug building blocks. We reviewed research from the last five years on CUR’s biogenesis with respect to the regulation of BC, revealing that CUR participates in arresting BC cells in the cell cycle and significantly induces apoptosis in BC cells. Information on the chemotherapeutic and antitumor mechanisms of CUR in BC, including regulation of the cell cycle, increased cell apoptosis, and inhibition of multidrug resistance (MDR), was compiled. Additionally, we provide an overview of CUR loaded into nanomaterials that are cotreated with other chemotherapeutic drugs, such as paclitaxel, thymoquinone, and tamoxifen. In this review, we discuss different types of nanoparticles that can be used for CUR delivery, such as polymeric nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, and liposomes. By comparing the size, entrapment efficiency, drug-loading capacity, release time, biocompatibility, pharmaceutical scale, and reproducibility of various nanomaterials, we aimed to determine which formulations are better suited for loading CUR or its analogue. Ultimately, this review is expected to offer inspiring ideas, promising strategies, and potential pathways for developing advanced anti-BC strategy nanosystems in clinical practice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Curcumin Nanoparticles: Delivery and Therapy)
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