Pharmacokinetics of Curcumin Delivered by Nanoparticles and the Relationship with Antitumor Efficacy: A Systematic Review

Curcumin is a polyphenolic compound, derived from Curcuma longa, and it has several pharmacological effects such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antitumor. Although pleiotropic molecule, curcumin’s free form, which lipophilic, low bioavailability rapidly metabolized, limiting its clinical use. With the advances in techniques for loading curcumin into nanostructures, possible to improve extend applications. In this review, we gather evidence about comparison of pharmacokinetics (biodistribution bioavailability) between (Cur) nanostructured (Cur-NPs) their respective relationships with antitumor efficacy. The search was performed following databases: Cochrane, LILACS, Embase, MEDLINE/Pubmed, Clinical Trials, BSV regional portal, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Web Science. selected studies were based on that used High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) evaluation method. Of 345 initially pooled, 11 met inclusion criteria all included classified high quality. search, variety nanoparticles deliver (polymeric, copolymeric, nanocrystals, nanovesicles, nanosuspension) found. Most Cur-NPs presented negative Zeta potential ranging −25 mV 12.7 mV, polydispersion index (PDI) 0.06 0.283, hydrodynamic diameter 30.47 550.1 nm. Selected adopted mainly oral intravenous administrations. analysis, samples plasma, liver, tumor, lung, brain, kidney, spleen evaluated. administration curcumin, nanoparticle systems, resulted higher level tumors compared leading an improved effect. Thus, use can be promising alternative delivery since improves bioavailability.