The Potential of Curcumin-Capped Nanoparticle Synthesis in Cancer Therapy: A Green Synthesis Approach

Abstract

Cancer nanotherapeutics is an important field of research which utilizes nanomaterials as an approach to cancer therapy. Nano-mediated therapeutic delivery systems overcome the adverse side effects of traditional cancer treatment methods. Nanoparticles (NPs) are considered excellent tumor-targeting vehicles due to their compact and variable size, large surface area, ability to load several genes and drugs, and mediation of increased therapeutic payload uptake. Despite the rapid development of nanotechnology, there is growing concern regarding the possible long-term side effects of NPs on the environment and human health. Green chemistry using plant materials, such as curcumin, is a sustainable alternative to conventional reduction methods and confers dual reducing and capping properties. Curcumin is a bioactive compound isolated from the rhizome of the Curcuma longa plant, which exhibits various medicinal properties. Curcumin-capped NPs exhibit increased solubility, bioavailability, therapeutic indices, and antitumor properties. This review highlights the potential and antitumor properties of economical, simple, and eco-friendly curcumin-synthesized and capped NPs for the localized delivery of therapeutic genes and drugs to the cancer tumor microenvironment with fewer adverse side effects.

Active Biomolecules from Vegetable Extracts with Antitumoral Activity against Pancreas Cancer: A Systematic Review (2011–2021)

“…Plant extracts are known to be generally well tolerated and generally nontoxic in models of healthy cells in two-dimensional culture [57]. In addition, in recent years, progress has been made to reduce the therapeutic dose and improve its ability to target tumor cells, mainly using nanoparticles loaded with compounds isolated from extracts [58][59][60][61][62]. On the other hand, it has been shown that these natural products are capable of reducing the side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy and the systemic toxicity derived from aggressive treatments [41].…”

Research Progress of Protein-Based Bioactive Substance Nanoparticles

“…(Table 1: Classification, sources, and functional properties of bioactive substances). As a safe and natural food additive with many sources and at low cost, active substances have a positive impact on a variety of diseases, such as diabetes [65,66], cancer [67], autoimmune diseases [68], cardiovascular diseases [69], and neurodegenerative diseases [70]. Curcumin is a polyphenolic substance extracted from the rhizomes of plants, such as ginger and araceae, and is a rare diketone compound in the plant kingdom [71].…”

Therapeutic activity of green synthesized selenium nanoparticles from turmeric against cisplatin-induced oxido-inflammatory stress and cell death in mice kidney

“…In comparison to free curcumin, nanostructured curcumin has a higher systemic bioavailability in the plasma and tissues, according to Zou et al [ 21 ]. Furthermore, compared to therapy with native curcumin, nanocurcumin has a 60-fold longer biological half-life and enhances in vivo absorption and dispersion [ 22 ]. Moreover, several formulations of nanoparticle-based curcumin were non-toxic in acute toxicity studies at doses equivalent to 2 g curcumin/kg of body weight.…”