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Review
. 2015 Nov;17(6):1341-56.
doi: 10.1208/s12248-015-9811-z. Epub 2015 Sep 3.

Therapeutic Applications of Curcumin Nanoformulations

Murali M Yallapu  1 , Prashanth K Bhusetty Nagesh  2 , Meena Jaggi  2 , Subhash C Chauhan  1
Affiliations
Review

Therapeutic Applications of Curcumin Nanoformulations

Murali M Yallapu et al. AAPS J. 2015 Nov.

Abstract

Curcumin (diferuloylmethane) is a bioactive and major phenolic component of turmeric derived from the rhizomes of curcuma longa linn. For centuries, curcumin has exhibited excellent therapeutic benefits in various diseases. Owing to its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, curcumin plays a significant beneficial and pleiotropic regulatory role in various pathological conditions including cancer, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease, inflammatory disorders, neurological disorders, and so on. Despite such phenomenal advances in medicinal applications, the clinical implication of native curcumin is hindered due to low solubility, physico-chemical instability, poor bioavailability, rapid metabolism, and poor pharmacokinetics. However, these issues can be overcome by utilizing an efficient delivery system. Active scientific research was initiated in 2005 to improve curcumin's pharmacokinetics, systemic bioavailability, and biological activity by encapsulating or by loading curcumin into nanoform(s) (nanoformulations). A significant number of nanoformulations exist that can be translated toward medicinal use upon successful completion of pre-clinical and human clinical trials. Considering this perspective, current review provides an overview of an efficient curcumin nanoformulation for a targeted therapeutic option for various human diseases. In this review article, we discuss the clinical evidence, current status, and future opportunities of curcumin nanoformulation(s) in the field of medicine. In addition, this review presents a concise summary of the actions required to develop curcumin nanoformulations as pharmaceutical or nutraceutical candidates.

Keywords: cancer; curcumin; drug delivery; nanoparticles; nanotechnology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Authors declared no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic transition of “curcumin” into “curcumin nanoformulations”. a Graphical represention of literature using PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/), patents (Google Patents), and clinical trial (https://clinicaltrials.gov/) websites (search conducted April 2015). b Implication of curcumin and nanocurcumin (curcumin nanoformulations) in various diseases (asterisk indicates widely studied implication). c Feasible delivery methods of curcumin and curcumin nanoformulations (asterisk represents commonly used route to deliver curcumin). d Commonly used types of nanocarriers (1–8: polymer nanoparticles, solid nanoparticles, liposome/lipid nanoparticles, micelles, dendrimers, polymer conjugates, nanogels, and metal/metal oxide nanoparticles, respectively) to deliver curcumin efficiently
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Critical physico-chemical properties and biological functions to consider in generating a successful curcumin nanoformulation
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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