Title : Niosomal encapsulation of Curcumin: Characterization and its potential as a therapeutic intervention in asthma
Abstract:
Asthma is a disease which occurs due to chronic inflammation in the airways. The most prominent clinical features of asthma are constriction and obstruction of the airway, which renders breathing difficult and complicated. Curcumin, a highly potent therapeutic substance, is obtained from the common turmeric, Curcuma longa. One of the major limitations of curcumin is that, this substance has limited or minimal solubility in water. We attempted to formulate curcumin nanoparticles that are encapsulated in a niosomal vesicular system. Characterization profile was carried out further to determine essential parameters namely, efficiency of encapsulation, particle size, analysis using FTIR, zeta potential and release profile of the formulations. In addition, we also used the human immortalized airway basal cell line, BCi-NS1.1, to quantify the expression of selected proinflammatory markers in vitro. Lipopolysaccharide was used to stimulate inflammation. Real-time PCR was used to study the expression pattern of the selected pro-inflammatory markers, namely, IL-6, IL-8, IL-1β and TNF-α. Our findings revealed that niosomal curcumin has an average particle size of 284.93 ± 14.27nm. The polydispersion index was found to be 0.426. The zeta potential of the nanoparticles was found to be -46.93. The formulation had an encapsulation efficacy of 99.62%. We also performed detailed molecular mechanics simulations on the nanoparticles. The interaction mechanisms that were involved between Cholesterol and Span 80 were studied. In addition, we also studied the niosomal architecture for its functional polar/non-polar alignment, and the preferential positioning of curcumin towards the hydrophobic domains. Our findings reveal that niosomal curcumin could restrict crucial pro-inflammatory markers and could be a potential therapeutic intervention in the treatment of asthma.
Audience take away:
• We have developed and characterised a novel nanoformulation on curcumin which could be a potential intervention in asthma.
• This research work could be further explored in the area of asthma, which could prove crucial in the management of asthma.
