Novel lipid nanoparticles enhance oral bioavailability of curcumin in rats: A pharmacokinetic study

R. Sharma¹, J. Patel¹, M. Kuznetsov²

¹ Dept. of Pharmaceutics, University of Mumbai, India · ² Moscow State Medical Univ., Russia

Abstract

Curcumin, a polyphenolic compound from Curcuma longa, exhibits poor oral bioavailability. This study formulated solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) loaded with curcumin via hot homogenization, characterized their physicochemical properties, and evaluated pharmacokinetics in Wistar rats. The optimized SLN formulation showed a 3.8-fold increase in AUC compared to free curcumin (p<0.001), demonstrating SLN as a promising strategy for enhancing curcumin bioavailability.

Keywords

curcumin solid lipid nanoparticles oral bioavailability pharmacokinetics

1. Introduction

Curcumin has been extensively studied for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer properties. However, its clinical translation is hindered by extremely low aqueous solubility, rapid metabolism, and poor systemic absorption…

2. Materials and Methods

Curcumin (≥98% purity) was procured from Sigma-Aldrich. Glyceryl monostearate, soy lecithin, and Tween 80 served as lipid matrix and surfactants. SLN were prepared by hot homogenization followed by ultrasonication…

3. Results

The optimized SLN formulation exhibited a mean particle size of 142 ± 6 nm, polydispersity index of 0.18, and entrapment efficiency of 89.3%. In-vivo pharmacokinetic studies revealed Cmax of 1.42 µg/mL (vs. 0.38 µg/mL for free curcumin) and 3.8-fold increase in AUC0–24h…

4. Discussion

The enhanced bioavailability is attributed to lymphatic uptake, protection from first-pass metabolism, and improved membrane permeability conferred by the lipid matrix…

References

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3. Anand P, et al. Bioavailability of curcumin: problems and promises. Mol Pharm. 2007;4:807–18.