Curcumin encapsulation in nanostructures for cancer therapy: a 10-year overview

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Curcumin (CUR) is a phenolic compound present in some herbs, including Curcuma longa Linn. (turmeric rhizome), with a high bioactive capacity and characteristic yellow color. It is mainly used as a spice, although it has been found that CUR has interesting pharmaceutical properties, acting as a natural antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antitumoral agent. Nonetheless, CUR is a hydrophobic compound with low water solubility, poor chemical stability, and fast metabolism, limiting its use as a pharmacological compound. Smart drug delivery systems (DDS) have been used to overcome its low bioavailability and improve its stability. The current work overviews the literature from the past 10 years on the encapsulation of CUR in nanostructured systems, such as micelles, liposomes, niosomes, nanoemulsions, hydrogels, and nanocomplexes, emphasizing its use and ability in cancer therapy. The studies highlighted in this review have shown that these nanoformulations achieved higher solubility, improved tumor cytotoxicity, prolonged CUR release, and reduced side effects, among other interesting advantages.
This study was funded by the Coordination for Higher Level Graduate Improvements (CAPES/Brazil, finance code 001), National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq/Brazil, PIBIC process #123483/2020-4), State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP/Brazil, processes #2017/10789-1, #2018/10799-0, #2018/06475-4, #2018/07707-6, #2019/08549-8, and #2020/03727-2). This work was also supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit and the project AgriFood XXI (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000041) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. Our Figures were created with BioRender
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