In vitro evaluation of curcumin-loaded chitosan-coated hydroxyapatite nanocarriers as a potential system for effective treatment of cancer

The Nanotech Potential of Curcumin in Pharmaceuticals: An Overview

It is safe to use Curcumin as a cosmetic and therapeutic ingredient in pharmaceutical products. For the uses mentioned above and for fundamental research, it is essential to obtain pure Curcumin from plant sources. There is a requirement for effective extraction and purification techniques that adhere to green chemistry standards for efficiency improvement, process safety, and environmental friendliness. Several outstanding studies have looked into the extraction and purification of Curcumin. This review thoroughly covers the currently available curcumin extraction, synthesis, and transformation techniques. Additionally, Curcumin's poor solubility and low absorption in the human body have limited its potential for pharmaceutical use. However, recent developments in novel curcumin formulations utilizing nanotechnology delivery methods have provided new approaches to transport and maximize the human body's curcumin absorption efficiency. In this review, we explore the various curcumin nanoformulations and the potential medicinal uses of nano curcumin. Additionally, we review the necessary future research directions to recommend Curcumin as an excellent therapeutic candidate.

Material and Design Toolkit for Drug Delivery: State of the Art, Trends, and Challenges

The nanomaterial and related toolkit have promising applications for improving human health and well-being. Nanobased drug delivery systems use nanoscale materials as carriers to deliver therapeutic agents in a targeted and controlled manner, and they have shown potential to address issues associated with conventional drug delivery systems. They offer benefits for treating various illnesses by encapsulating or conjugating biological agents, chemotherapeutic drugs, and immunotherapeutic agents. The potential applications of this technology are vast; however, significant challenges exist to overcome such as safety issues, toxicity, efficacy, and insufficient capacity. This article discusses the latest developments in drug delivery systems, including drug release mechanisms, material toolkits, related design molecules, and parameters. The concluding section examines the limitations and provides insights into future possibilities.

Amelioration of Cancer Employing Chitosan, Its Derivatives, and Chitosan-Based Nanoparticles: Recent Updates

The limitations associated with the conventional treatment of cancer have necessitated the design and development of novel drug delivery systems based mainly on nanotechnology. These novel drug delivery systems include various kinds of nanoparticles, such as polymeric nanoparticles, solid lipid nanoparticles, nanostructured lipid carriers, hydrogels, and polymeric micelles. Among the various kinds of novel drug delivery systems, chitosan-based nanoparticles have attracted the attention of researchers to treat cancer. Chitosan is a polycationic polymer generated from chitin with various characteristics such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, non-toxicity, and mucoadhesiveness, making it an ideal polymer to fabricate drug delivery systems. However, chitosan is poorly soluble in water and soluble in acidic aqueous solutions. Furthermore, owing to the presence of reactive amino groups, chitosan can be chemically modified to improve its physiochemical properties. Chitosan and its modified derivatives can be employed to fabricate nanoparticles, which are used most frequently in the pharmaceutical sector due to their possession of various characteristics such as nanosize, appropriate pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties, non-immunogenicity, improved stability, and improved drug loading capacity. Furthermore, it is capable of delivering nucleic acids, chemotherapeutic medicines, and bioactives using modified chitosan. Chitosan and its modified derivative-based nanoparticles can be targeted to specific cancer sites via active and passive mechanisms. Based on chitosan drug delivery systems, many anticancer drugs now have better effectiveness, potency, cytotoxicity, or biocompatibility. The characteristics of chitosan and its chemically tailored derivatives, as well as their use in cancer therapy, will be examined in this review.

Metal-based nanomaterials and nanocomposites as promising frontier in cancer chemotherapy

Cancer is a disease associated with complex pathology and one of the most prevalent and leading reasons for mortality in the world. Current chemotherapy has challenges with cytotoxicity, selectivity, multidrug resistance, and the formation of stemlike cells. Nanomaterials (NMs) have unique properties that make them useful for various diagnostic and therapeutic purposes in cancer research. NMs can be engineered to target cancer cells for early detection and can deliver drugs directly to cancer cells, reducing side effects and improving treatment efficacy. Several of NMs can also be used for photothermal therapy to destroy cancer cells or enhance immune response to cancer by delivering immune-stimulating molecules to immune cells or modulating the tumor microenvironment. NMs are being modified to overcome issues, such as toxicity, lack of selectivity, increase drug capacity, and bioavailability, for a wide spectrum of cancer therapies. To improve targeted drug delivery using nano-carriers, noteworthy research is required. Several metal-based NMs have been studied with the expectation of finding a cure for cancer treatment. In this review, the current development and the potential of plant and metal-based NMs with their effects on size and shape have been discussed along with their more effective usage in cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Chitosan Nanoparticles-Based Cancer Drug Delivery: Application and Challenges

Chitin is the second most abundant biopolymer consisting of N-acetylglucosamine units and is primarily derived from the shells of marine crustaceans and the cell walls of organisms (such as bacteria, fungi, and algae). Being a biopolymer, its materialistic properties, such as biodegradability, and biocompatibility, make it a suitable choice for biomedical applications. Similarly, its deacetylated derivative, chitosan, exhibits similar biocompatibility and biodegradability properties, making it a suitable support material for biomedical applications. Furthermore, it has intrinsic material properties such as antioxidant, antibacterial, and antitumor. Population studies have projected nearly 12 million cancer patients across the globe, where most will be suffering from solid tumors. One of the shortcomings of potent anticancer drugs is finding a suitable cellular delivery material or system. Therefore, identifying new drug carriers to achieve effective anticancer therapy is becoming essential. This paper focuses on the strategies implemented using chitin and chitosan biopolymers in drug delivery for cancer treatment.

PEGylated Magnetite/Hydroxyapatite: A Green Nanocomposite for T2-Weighted MRI and Curcumin Carrying

Background

The design of new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast media with chemotherapy drug-carrying capacity has an important role in diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. This study aimed to synthesize a polyethylene glycol (PEG)-coated magnetite/hydroxyapatite nanocomposite as an MRI contrast agent investigate its curcumin loading/release properties and consider the cytotoxicity effect of the curcumin-loaded nanocomposite on different cell lines.

Materials and Methods

PEGylated magnetite/hydroxyapatite (PMHA) nanocomposite was synthesized and characterized using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry, and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. MTT assay was performed to consider the A549, MCF-7, and MRC-5 cells toxicity of the PMHA and the curcumin-loaded nanocomposite. The r2 relaxivity of the nanocomposite was determined by an MRI device. The curcumin loading and its release from the nanocomposite at pH of 7.4 and 5.5 were investigated.

Results

The spherical nanocomposite showed an average size of 20 nm and a superparamagnetic property. PMHA nanocomposite was highly cytocompatible, while the curcumin-loaded nanocomposite showed significant cytotoxicity for A549 and a much higher toxic effect on MCF-7 cancer cells. The r2 relaxivity was measured as 120 mM⁻¹S⁻¹. The curcumin loading capacity of PMHA was 1.9 mg/g, and the curcumin release profile showed a pH-dependent sustained release of the anti-cancer drug that was higher for pH of 5.5.

Conclusion

The high r2 relaxivity of PMHA nanocomposite and sustained release of curcumin from the loaded one at the pH of tumor environment suggest that the nanocomposite is a potential candidate for T2-weighted MRI and cancer treatment.

The preparation of hydroxyapatite nanowires and nanorods via aliphatic micelles as soft templates

Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles were tunably synthesized via the use of an aliphatic–ethanol–water three-phase mixture system using micelles as soft templates via an emulsion–hydrothermal synergistic method.