Role of curcumin and its nanotechnological innovations in cancer therapeutics

SOLEDAD RAVETTI; ARIEL G GARRO; SOFÍA G BRIGNONE; CAROLINA BESSONE; DANIEL ALLEMANDI; DANIELA QUINTEROS

Novel Phytopharmaceutical for Management of Disorders

CRC Press-Taylor and Francis Group.

Año: 2022;

Since ancient times, medicinal herbs have been widely used throughout the world totreat various disorders. Among these, curcumin is gaining increasing interest in thescientific community.Curcumin, a hydrophobic bioactive molecule extracted from the underground stems(rhizomes) of turmeric (Curcuma longa), is traditionally employed to treat many typesof diseases, mainly in cancer.However, the pharmacotherapeutic potential of curcumin is severely limited due to itspoor solubility in aqueous buffer and low bioavailability, chemical instability inphysiological fluids and fast metabolism that greatly compromise its clinicalapplication. To overcome these problems, the nanodelivery system has shown excellentpotential to improve the solubility, stability, degradation, biodistribution and therapeuticefficiency of curcumin. This chapter reviews novel drug nanocarrier systems publishedfor curcumin including micelles, liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, nanoemulsions,and solid lipid nanoparticles, which provide promising results for curcumin inanticancer application.