Supramolecular curcumin-barium prodrugs for formulating with ceramic particles

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Biomaterials Engineering
• Drug Delivery

Background:

• Curcumin exhibits poor solubility and stability, limiting its therapeutic applications.
• Ceramic particles present challenges for drug formulation due to their reactivity.
• Developing stable and effective curcumin formulations is crucial for biomedical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a stable curcumin-ceramic combined formulation.
• To improve curcumin's solubility, stability, and release profile.
• To explore potential dental and orthopedic applications of the novel formulation.

Main Methods:

• Curcumin was complexed with barium (Ba2+) to form a curcumin-barium (BaCur) supramolecular complex.
• Characterization using MALDI-TOF-MS, NMR, FTIR, XRD, HPLC, DLS, and AFM.
• Nanoparticles were formed and loaded into pluronic micelles.
• Ceramic nanoparticles with varying reactivity were prepared and combined with the curcumin formulation.

Main Results:

• A water-soluble, stable BaCur supramolecular multimer nanoparticle prodrug was successfully synthesized.
• Curcumin stability improved to over 70% when formulated with pluronic micelles.
• The BaCur prodrug exhibited enhanced solubility and controlled release properties.
• The formulation demonstrated potential for use with reactive ceramic particles.

Conclusions:

• The metal-organic supramolecular prodrug approach significantly improves curcumin's solubility, stability, and release.
• Micellisation strategy is effective for delivering curcumin with reactive ceramic particles.
• This novel formulation holds promise for dental and orthopedic applications.