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Owing to the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, amyloid inhibition, and neuroprotective potency, curcumin proved as an excellent herbal bioactive to treat AD. However, poor solubility, lipophilicity, rapid metabolism, and short half-life restrict its therapeutic efficacy. To improve the physicochemical properties and achieve prolonged release, we have prepared curcumin-loaded SLN (CSL) and optimized via response surface methodology. CSL was prepared by melt emulsification-ultrasonication technique. Experimental design (33Box-Behnken) suggested 17 runs by taking drug: lipid ratio, concentration of surfactant and sonication time as independent factors whereas the size, %EE and drug release as dependant factors. The optimized formulation was observed with particle size 258.6 ± 47.39 nm, PDI 0.354 ± 0.02, zeta potential 19.3 ± 2.33 mV, and entrapment efficiency 81.49 ± 1.17%. CSL showed a biphasic release pattern with an initial burst release of 21% drug in 2 h followed by prolonged release of 84.92 ± 0.79% in 48 h. Weibull kinetic equation was found best fit for the drug release. The release mechanism depicted diffusion-controlled release along with initial surface erosion. Further, the optimized CSL was loaded in poloxamer based thermoresponsive in situgel which showed good gelation behavior with 30 ± 0.8 °C gelation temperature and gelation time 1 min. The DPPH study indicated satisfactory oxidative potency of drug in terms of % RSA. However, we have observed that loading in SLN and in situgel reduced the antioxidant potency to some extent. Such reduction might be due to the stealth nature and prolonged release behavior of the nanocarrier which restricts the direct exposure of the drug to the reaction mixture.

Vincristine is a naturally occurring anticancer drug with a specific mechanism of action, given intravenously/bolus to treat various types of cancers, including breast cancer. The present studies explored the potential of thermosensitive injectable nanogel of vincristine loaded nanoparticles. In situgel was chosen as the delivery system because it restricts the unwanted exposure in blood and other healthy tissues, thus eliminate hemolytic side effects of the drug and offer easy administration in vivo.Furthermore, non-biodegradable and cytocompatible polymeric Eudragit RSPO nanoparticles are proposed as ideal candidates for biomedical usage. The method of preparation includes two major steps—the first formation of vincristine nanoparticles with positively charged Eudragit RSPO. In the second step, these nanoparticles were suspended into a thermosensitive gel base to act as an in situnanogel. Characterization parameters performed are size, surface charge, vincristine sulfate release behavior and mechanism, polymer-drug interaction, and encapsulation efficiency. In situnanogel was also evaluated for gelling time, drug release, hemocompatibility and cytotoxic activity in breast cancer MCF-7 cell lines. The magnitude of size (<200 nm) and unaltered presence of functional groups after nanoparticle preparation was confirmed by dynamic light scattering technique and FTIR resp. The desirable spherical contour and smooth surface of the prepared nanoparticles were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. Almost 60% entrapment efficiency was obtained with the optimized batch. In MCF-7 cell lines, the in situnanogel exhibited dose-dependent cytotoxic activity similar to free drug solution, which indicates incorporating the drug into nanogel does not deteriorate its cytotoxic activity. LD50for in situnanogel was 32.3 μg/mL and 12.9 μg/mL for the free drug.