Liposomal curcumin and its application in cancer

Abstract

Ting Feng,1,* Yumeng Wei,1,* Robert J Lee,2 Ling Zhao1 1Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 2Division of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: Curcumin (CUR) is a yellow polyphenolic compound derived from the plant turmeric. It is widely used to treat many types of diseases, including cancers such as those of lung, cervices, prostate, breast, bone and liver. However, its effectiveness has been limited due to poor aqueous solubility, low bioavailability and rapid metabolism and systemic elimination. To solve these problems, researchers have tried to explore novel drug delivery systems such as liposomes, solid dispersion, microemulsion, micelles, nanogels and dendrimers. Among these, liposomes have been the most extensively studied. Liposomal CUR formulation has greater growth inhibitory and pro-apoptotic effects on cancer cells. This review mainly focuses on the preparation of liposomes containing CUR and its use in cancer therapy. Keywords: curcumin, liposomes, drug delivery, bioavailability, cancer 

Keywords

• Curcumin
• liposomes
• drug delivery
• bioavailability
• cancer