Low-surfactant microemulsion, a smart strategy intended for curcumin oral delivery

Recent Trends in Curcumin-Containing Inorganic-Based Nanoparticles Intended for In Vivo Cancer Therapy

“…Although curcumin reveals promising properties, it presents critical limitations, such as (i) quick systemic elimination; (ii) significant first-pass intestinal (phase I) and hepatic (phase II) metabolism; (iii) instability in intestinal pH; (iv) poor intestinal permeability; and (v) low water solubility [ 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ]. These aspects have been key in limiting curcumin’s clinical acceptance as a therapeutic agent [ 43 ].…”

“…Considering the previously mentioned pharmacological potential of curcumin as an anticancer agent, its biopharmaceutical limitations should be overcome for proper in vivo use [ 42 , 43 ]. Therefore, curcumin-based inorganic nanoparticles have been produced and investigated for their performance in different in vivo cancer models.…”

Curcumin-loaded nanostructured systems for treatment of leishmaniasis: a review

“…Despite its promising antileishmanial potential, curc has several drawbacks, such as: (i) low aqueous solubility, (ii) rapid clearance, (iii) low tissue absorption, and (iv) notable chemical degradation (neutral and alkaline pH), which severely reduces its bioavailability and hinder its clinical use [ 18 , 53 – 54 ]. Given this scenario, approaches such as carrying curc in nanostructures have been used to overcome such drawbacks.…”

“…To get around these several limitations, nanotechnological systems such as nanoemulsions [ 17 ], microemulsions [ 18 ], self-nanoemulsifying systems [ 19 ], nanoparticles [ 20 ], nanoliposomes [ 21 ], micelles [ 22 ], and nanocrystals [ 23 ] have been utilized. These systems can promote (i) protection of the drug against degradation in physiological media, (ii) increase in drug solubility, and (iii) modification/targeting of the drug enabling transport through biological membranes [ 13 , 24 ].…”

Nanoemulsification of soybean oil using ultrasonic microreactor: Process optimization, scale-up and numbering-up in series

“…The traditional preparation of microemulsions with below 100 nm DS requires a large number of surfactants and co-surfactants up to with ca. 15% [6] , which brings out some obvious side effects, e.g., severe physiological stimulation and allergic reactions [7] . In order to reduce the use of surfactants and improve the compliance, high-energy technologies (high-pressure homogenization, ultrasound, etc.,) were attempted to prepare microemulsions.…”