Hydroxypropyl Methyl Cellulose-Encapsulated Niosomes for Enhanced Oral Delivery of Curcumin as Antihypercholesterolemia: Optimization, In Vitro, and In Vivo Study

Hypercholesterolemia prompts the exploration of curcumin as a potential treatment. Due to its low solubility and bioavailability, oral use in drug delivery systems is still limited. This research aims to address these limitations by increasing the efficiency of curcumin via encapsulation system in niosomes combined with Hydroxypropyl Methyl Cellulose (HPMC). The optimal niosome curcumin (NioC) formulation was determined through Response Surface Methodology (RSM) with %EE and %DR as the responses, and the amount of curcumin, span 60, and cholesterol as the independent variables. In vivo experiments in mice were carried out to study the delivery performance of HPMC-NioC against hypercholesterolemia. The results of RSM optimization in NioC formulation showed that the optimum formula was 2.5 mg curcumin, 16 mg cholesterol, and 11 mg Span 60. NioC encapsulation resulted in a high %EE of 99.89%. In vitro test showed a %DR of 30.11% over a 20-hour. In vivo testing showed a significant reduction in total cholesterol levels, i.e. 26.23% during 20 days of treatment.