Pharmacokinetic Study of Nanoparticulate Curcumin: Oral Formulation for Enhanced Bioavailability

Curcumin, a bioactive component of turmeric, which is a commonly used spice and nutritional supplement, is isolated from the rhizomes of Curcuma longa Linn. (Zingiberaceae). In recent years, the potential pharmacological actions of Curcumin in inflammatory disorders, cardiovascular disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and neurological disorders have been shown. However, the clinical application of Curcumin is severely limited by its main drawbacks such as instability, low solubility, poor bioavailability and rapid metabolism. Multifarious nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems for Curcumin including liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, solid lipid nanoparticles, micelles, nanogels, nanoemulsions, complexes and dendrimer/dimer, have been attempted to enhance the oral bioavailability, biological activity or tissue-targeting ability of Curcumin. We attempted the nanosuspensions based delivery of curcumin. Nanonisation renders curcumin completely dispersible in aqueous media. To enhance the curcumin absorption by oral administration, nanoparticulate solid oral formulation of curcumin was prepared by us and the resulting capsule was then examined for its efficiency on bioavailability in Male Wistar rats at a dose of 100 mg curcumin/kg body weight and the pharmacokinetic parameters were compared to those of normal curcumin powder and a commercial curcumin capsule CUR-500. The bio-distribution of curcumin in organs of rat was also studied. Nanoparticulation significantly raised the curcumin concentration in selective organs in the body. The results obtained provide promising results for nanoparticulate Curcumin to improve its biological activities. Enhanced bioavailability of curcumin in the form of nanoparticle is likely to bring this promising natural product to the forefront of therapeutic agents for treatment of human disease. The available information also strongly suggests that nano-formulation of ingredients such as curcumin may be used as a novel nutrient delivery system too.