title: Formulation of nanotized curcumin and demonstration of its antimalarial efficacy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study was conducted to overcome the disadvantages associated with the poor water solubility and low bioavailability of curcumin by synthesizing nanotized curcumin and demonstrating its efficacy in treating malaria.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nanotized curcumin was prepared by a modified emulsion-diffusion-evaporation method and was characterized by means of transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, dynamic light scattering, Zetasizer, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and differential thermal analysis. The novelty of the prepared nanoformulation lies in the fact that it was devoid of any polymeric matrices used in conventional carriers. The antimalarial efficacy of the prepared nanotized curcumin was then checked both in vitro and in vivo.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The nanopreparation was found to be non-toxic and had a particle size distribution of 20-50 nm along with improved aqueous dispersibility and an entrapment efficiency of 45%. Nanotized curcumin (half maximal inhibitory concentration [IC50]: 0.5 μM) was also found to be ten-fold more effective for growth inhibition of Plasmodium falciparum in vitro as compared to its native counterpart (IC50: 5 μM). Oral bioavailability of nanotized curcumin was found to be superior to that of its native counterpart. Moreover, when Plasmodium berghei-infected mice were orally treated with nanotized curcumin, it prolonged their survival by more than 2 months with complete clearance of parasites in comparison to the untreated animals, which survived for 8 days only.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nanotized curcumin holds a considerable promise in therapeutics as demonstrated here for treating malaria as a test system.
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Medicine, Bose Institute, Centenary Campus, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Aparajita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, University of Pune, Pune, India.
authors.forename: Tanushree
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Medicine, Bose Institute, Centenary Campus, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Suman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhandary
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Avadhesha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Surolia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000633:toxicity; D002460:Cell Line; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D003474:Curcumin / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000633:toxicity; D006801:Humans; D007677:Kidney Function Tests; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008288:Malaria / Q000469:parasitology; D051379:Mice; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity; D010316:Particle Size; D010962:Plasmodium berghei / Q000187:drug effects; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000962:Antimalarials; D003474:Curcumin
keywords: P. berghei; P. falciparum; antimalarial; curcumin; nanotized curcumin