Curcumin Polymer Based Nanospheres: Encapsulation and In Vitro Release

Abstract

Curcumin is a yellow pigmented polyphenol, having multiple medicinal uses due to its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antimicrobial effects. The most important effect is its potential use in chemothearpy for cancer treatment. In this study curcumin is encapsulated in Poly(DL-lactide-co-glycolide) nanospheres using solvent evaporation technique by means of Tween 80 and Span 80 as surfactants. Drug encapsulation, drug loading, particle size, morphology, FT-IR analysis and in-vitro studies, were conducted to characterize the formulated nanospheres.The spherical nanoshperes showed a size ranging between 60 and 130 nm, having a maximum drug encapsulation of 24%. The lack of interaction between both drug and polymer during the nanosphere formulation was proven during the FT-IR study. The in-vitro studies showed a fast drug release.