Curcumin and Quercetin-Loaded Lipid Nanocarriers: Development of Omega-3 Mucoadhesive Nanoemulsions for Intranasal Administration

• Published in: Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 12; no. 7; p. 1073
• Main Authors: Vaz, Gustavo Richter, Carrasco, Mariana Corrêa Falkembach, Batista, Matheus Monteiro, Barros, Paula Alice Bezerra, Oliveira, Meliza da Conceição, Muccillo-Baisch, Ana Luiza, Yurgel, Virginia Campello, Buttini, Francesca, Soares, Félix Alexandre Antunes, Cordeiro, Larissa Marafiga, Fachel, Flavia, Teixeira, Helder Ferreira, Bidone, Juliana, de Oliveira, Patrícia Diaz, Sonvico, Fabio, Dora, Cristiana Lima
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 25.03.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Antioxidants; Bioavailability; Biocompatibility; Biopharmaceuticals; Brain; Chloride; Controlled release; Curcumin; Ethanol; Fatty acids; Formulations; Health services; Inflammation; Intranasal administration; Lipids; Nanoemulsions; Nanotechnology; Nervous system; Neurodegenerative diseases; Penetration; Pharmaceuticals; Polyethylene glycol; Polyphenols; Quercetin; Surfactants; Sustained release; Toxicity; Viscosity; Zeta potential; Brazil; United States > US; Germany; toxicity; nanoemulsions; quercetin; intranasal administration; curcumin
• ISSN: 2079-4991; 2079-4991
• DOI: 10.3390/nano12071073

Curcumin (CUR) and quercetin (QU) are potential compounds for treatment of brain diseases such as neurodegenerative diseases (ND) because of their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. However, low water solubility and poor bioavailability hinder their clinical use. In this context, nanotechnology arises as a strategy to overcome biopharmaceutical issues. In this work, we develop, characterize, compare, and optimize three different omega-3 (ω-3) fatty acids nanoemulsions (NEs) loaded with CUR and QU (negative, cationic, gelling) prepared by two different methods for administration by intranasal route (IN). The results showed that formulations prepared with the two proposed methods exhibited good stability and were able to incorporate a similar amount of CUR and QU. On the other side, differences in size, zeta potential, in vitro release kinetics, and permeation/retention test were observed. Considering the two preparation methods tested, high-pressure homogenization (HPH) shows advantages, and the CQ NE- obtained demonstrated potential for sustained release. Toxicity studies demonstrated that the formulations were not toxic for . The developed ω-3 fatty acid NEs have shown a range of interesting properties for the treatment of brain diseases, since they have the potential to increase the nose-to-brain permeation of CUR and QU, enabling enhanced treatments efficiency.