Zeolite Nanoporous Materials Loaded with Curcumin as Anti-Cancer Drug Delivery Systems
In this work, a combination of different techniques has been used to assess the potential
use of zeolite nanoporous materials for the delivery of natural bioactive curcumin.
Curcumin is a water-insoluble drug extracted from turmeric (Curcuma longa) plant. In
recent years, the potential anticancer effect of curcumin in suppressing many types of
cancers, while showing a synergistic antitumor effect with other anticancer agents, has
attracted great attention. However, the poorly soluble formulation of curcumin is a
problem, which is normally overcome by the application of high drug dosage in oral
formulations. Encapsulation of curcumin into a suitable carrier can render the drug
completely dispersible and overcome its insolubility. Zeolites are inorganic crystalline
aluminosilicates with porous structure on the nano- and micro-scale and high internal
surface areas, which are known as adsorbents, molecular sieves and ion exchange
materials. These properties of zeolites make them useful as pharmaceutical carrier
systems to encapsulate drugs whit intrinsic low aqueous solubility and improve their
dissolution. In our research, we explore the use of three different types of zeolites, X, Y,
and A with different chemical composition and pore diameter, loaded with curcumin.
The surface properties and morphology of these zeolite-based carriers, as well as the
effect of drug loading and release, were investigated by means of scanning electron
microscopy (SEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry
(DSC), and chemical analyses. Results regarding the release studies of the bioactive
molecule from the different zeolites and the optimum conditions for drug loading will be
reported. These results will indicate the potential of our zeolite carrier systems for
curcumin loading and delivery in anti-cancer applications.