A novel solubility-enhanced curcumin formulation showing stability and maintenance of anticancer activity

✍ Scribed by Fang Zhang; Gar Yee Koh; Duane P. Jeansonne; Javoris Hollingsworth; Paul S. Russo; Graca Vicente; Rhett W. Stout; Zhijun Liu

• Book ID: 102394711
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 416 KB
• Volume: 100
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-3549
• DOI: 10.1002/jps.22512

✦ Synopsis

Curcumin (CUR) is an active food compound, but its insolubility and instability in water contributes to low bioavailability. In this study, the solubility of CUR was enhanced by utilizing the solubilizing properties of rubusoside (RUB). The solubility of CUR in water increased linearly from 61 :g/mL to 2.318 mg/mL in the presence of RUB ranging from 1% to 10% (w/v). Dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy studies found that CUR and RUB formed CUR-RUB nanoparticle (∼8 nm) complexes. The RUB-solubilized CUR was stable in physiological conditions and did not precipitate when diluted or degrade when spray-dried to a completely reconstitutable powder. Furthermore, cell viability assays demonstrated the efficacy of RUB-solubilized CUR against human colon, breast, and pancreatic cancer cell lines. The development of this new solubilized, stable, and biologically active CUR formulation lays the foundation for future bioavailability improvement.