Improving the Anticancer Activity of Curcumin Using Nanocurcumin Dispersion in Water

• Published in: Nutrition and cancer Vol. 66; no. 6; pp. 1015 - 1022
• Main Authors: Basniwal, Rupesh Kumar, Khosla, Ritu, Jain, Nidhi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Routledge 01.01.2014; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: anticarcinogenic activity; Antineoplastic Agents - chemistry; Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Antioxidants; Bioavailability; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Survival - drug effects; curcumin; Curcumin - chemistry; Curcumin - pharmacology; dimethyl sulfoxide; Disease prevention; Hep G2 Cells; Humans; liver; Nanoparticles; Nanoparticles - chemistry; neoplasms; nutrition; Particle Size; Solubility; Spices; therapeutics; turmeric; Water - chemistry
• ISSN: 1532-7914; 0163-5581; 1532-7914
• DOI: 10.1080/01635581.2014.936948

Curcumin is a highly potent, nontoxic bioactive agent found in turmeric and is known to have significant anticancer properties against different types of cancer cells. The major disadvantage associated with the use of curcumin, however, is its low systemic bioavailability due to its poor aqueous solubility. The focus of the present study was to generate nanoparticles of curcumin with improved aqueous phase solubility, and to investigate their efficacy in treating cancer cells. Curcumin nanoparticles having particle size in the range 2–40 nm and aqueous solubility of up to a maximum of 3 mg/mL were prepared. Evaluation of anticancer properties of curcumin nanodispersion was carried out in 3 different cancer cell lines: lung (A549), liver (HepG2), and skin (A431). The results demonstrated that under aqueous conditions curcumin nanoparticles exhibited similar or a much stronger antiproliferative effect on the cancer cells compared to normal curcumin in DMSO. Our results lead way toward unharnessed potential of curcumin in the form of its nanoparticles as an adjuvant therapy for clinical application in treating various cancers.