Novel Drug Delivery Systems to Improve Bioavailability of Curcumin

Abstract

Curcumin, the major component of common food spice, turmeric, is a potential compound for the treatment and prevention of a wide variety of human diseases and has wide spectrum of biological and pharmacological activities. Various studies have proven the safety and efficacy of curcumin at very high doses; however the relative bioavailability of curcumin is of major concern. It has extremely low aqueous solubility and it is still unclear if it metabolizes into active or inactive metabolites. In this review, we have discussed the various novel drug delivery systems of curcumin such as various nanoparticles, micellar formulations, liposomes and cyclodextrin inclusion complexes that have been reported in order to improve the solubility, bioavailability and efficacy of curcumin.