Lung-targeted delivery system of curcumin loaded gelatin microspheres.

The purpose of the study is to design and evaluate curcumin loaded gelatin microspheres (C-GMS) for effective drug delivery to the lung. C-GMS was prepared by the emulsification-linkage technique and the formulation was optimized by orthogonal design. The mean encapsulation efficiency and drug loading of the optimal C-GMS were 75.5 ± 3.82 % and 6.15 ± 0.44%, respectively. The C-GMS presented a spherical shape and smooth surface with a mean particle diameter of 18.9 μm. The in vitro drug release behavior of C-GMS followed the first-order kinetics. The tissue distribution showed that the drug concentrations at lung tissue for the C-GMS suspension were significantly higher than those for the curcumin solution, and the Ce for lung was 36.19. Histopathological studies proved C-GMS was efficient and safe to be used as a passive targeted drug delivery system to the lung. Hence, C-GMS has a great potential for the targeted delivery of curcumin to the lung.