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In the current study, the transdermal route has been investigated to deliver the poorly bioavailable drug; curcumin into the systemic circulation, aiming to target both superficial and subcutaneous tumors such as the breast tumors. Accordingly, different colloidal carriers viz. ultradeformable nanovesicles comprising various penetration enhancers were exploited. Curcumin-loaded deformable vesicles were prepared by the thin film hydration method followed by extrusion. Sodium cholate and Tween 80 were set as standard edge activators and Labrasol, Transcutol, limonene and oleic acid were the penetration enhancers that were evaluated for their efficacy in skin permeation. The particle size and zeta potential of the prepared vesicles were significantly affected by the type of surfactant/penetration enhancer. The polydispersity measurements showed uniform particle size distribution indicating the sufficiency of the extrusion cycles performed. Curcumin, as a hydrophobic molecule, was well accommodated within the lipid bilayers of the prepared vesicles with entrapment efficiency (EE%) percentages and drug loading percentages (DL%) as high as 93.91% and 7.04%, respectively. The ex-vivo permeation studies were performed on male albino mice skin mounted on Franz diffusion cells. Oleic acid and Transcutol exhibited comparable fluxes to sodium cholate and Tween 80 (∼16 μg cm -2  h -1 ), whereas the fluxes of Labrasol and limonene were significantly lower. Cytotoxicity studies were performed using MTT assay on human breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 cells). The results of the MTT assay demonstrated that oleic acid ultradeformable nanovesicles scored an IC 50 of 20 μg/ml which introduce these new curcumin-loaded nanovesicles as a successful delivery system for breast cancer therapy., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Curcumin-loaded chitosan nanoparticles intended for transdermal delivery were successfully prepared, optimized and their fate, interaction and pathway through the skin were tracked. D-optimal response surface methodology was used for the nanoparticles optimization. Xy and z-stack confocal laser scanning microscopic images were used for the particles tracking after measuring the drug permeation through the skin using Franz diffusion cells. Very small particle sizes in the range of 33.85-199.23nm accompanied with low PDI values of 0.129-0.536 of the prepared curcumin-loaded chitosan nanoparticles were obtained. TEM images revealed the spherical and non-aggregating curcumin-loaded chitosan nanoparticles. The ex-vivo permeation studies have proven the ability of the prepared chitosan nanoparticles to deliver curcumin through the skin reaching fluxes viz 5.14±1.31μgcm -2 h -1 . The confocal laser scanning microscopy has proven that the appendageal route is the main route of penetration of the prepared nanoparticles and has demonstrated the localization of the chitosan nanoparticles within the hair follicles from which the drug diffuses to deep layers of the skin and beyond., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)