Optimization of curcumin loaded niosomes for drug delivery applications

Controlled drug delivery is an important and challenging issue in pharmacology. The aim is to improve efficacy and reduce the side effects of drugs. Nanotechnology suggests applying various nanoparticles as carriers to overcome drug delivery limitations. The current study introduces an optimum formulation of niosomes to carry and deliver curcumin (CUR) as a hydrophobic drug to cancerous cells. In spite of numerous pharmacological properties of this natural polyphenolic compound, including anti-microbial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects, it suffers from poor stability and solubility. This work studies the optimum formulation for CUR-loaded niosome and investigates its stability based on hydrodynamic size and zeta-potential measurements. The optimum blank noisome, formulated according to a three-level Box-Behnken design, was used to load CUR as an anticancer drug. The fabricated niosomes (blank/loaded) were characterized by dynamic light scattering, Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Prepared particles showed stability at 4 degrees C for up to two months. In addition, particles were durable against temperature changes from 5 degrees to 40 degrees C. Drugloaded niosomes reached 99.8% drug entrapment efficiency and up to 68.33% loading capacity. Sustained-release behaviour was observed in CUR-loaded niosomes up to 25.49 +/- 0.70% of CUR during 336 h. Based on cytotoxicity studies, blank niosome showed no significant toxicity effect on cells at high concentrations and after 72 h, confirming cytocompatibility of the particles. CUR-loaded niosomes had dose-dependent toxicity against cancerous cells. The concentration of 200 mu g/ml of the drug-loaded carrier, containing 66.75 mu g CUR, showed an IC50 effect after 48 h of exposure to cells.