Farazuddin Mohammad, Dua Bhavyata, Zia Qamar, Khan Aijaz Ahmad, Joshi Beenu, Owais Mohammad
Interdisciplinary Biotechnology Unit, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India.
Immunology Division, National JALMA Institute for Leprosy and Other Mycobacterial Diseases (NJIL), Agra, India.
Int J Nanomedicine. 2014 Mar 3;9:1139-52. doi: 10.2147/IJN.S34668. eCollection 2014.
Curcumin (diferuloylmethane) is found in large quantities in the roots of Curcuma longa. It possesses strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and inhibits chemically-induced carcinogenesis in the skin, forestomach, colon, and liver. Unfortunately, the poor bioavailability and hydrophobicity of curcumin pose a major hurdle to its use as a potent anticancer agent. To circumvent some of these problems, we developed a novel, dual-core microcell formulation of curcumin. The encapsulation of curcumin in microcells increases its solubility and bioavailability, and facilitates slow release kinetics over extended periods. Besides being safe, these formulations do not bear any toxicity constraints, as revealed by in vitro and in vivo studies. Histopathological analysis revealed that curcumin-bearing microcells helped in regression of hepatocellular carcinoma and the maintenance of cellular architecture in liver tissue. Free curcumin had a very mild effect on cancer suppression. Empty (sham) microcells and microparticles failed to inhibit cancer cells. The novel curcumin formulation was found to suppress hepatocellular carcinoma efficiently in Swiss albino mice.
姜黄素（二阿魏酰甲烷）大量存在于姜黄的根部。它具有强大的抗氧化和抗炎特性，并能抑制皮肤、前胃、结肠和肝脏中化学诱导的致癌作用。不幸的是，姜黄素较差的生物利用度和疏水性成为其作为一种有效的抗癌剂使用的主要障碍。为了克服其中一些问题，我们开发了一种新型的姜黄素双核微细胞制剂。姜黄素包裹在微细胞中可提高其溶解度和生物利用度，并有助于在较长时间内实现缓释动力学。如体外和体内研究所揭示的，这些制剂除了安全之外，没有任何毒性限制。组织病理学分析表明，含姜黄素的微细胞有助于肝细胞癌的消退以及肝脏组织中细胞结构的维持。游离姜黄素对癌症抑制的作用非常轻微。空（假）微细胞和微粒未能抑制癌细胞。发现这种新型姜黄素制剂能在瑞士白化小鼠中有效抑制肝细胞癌。
