LAUSR

Abstract Curcumin (CUR) is a poorly water-soluble and photoreactive drug having potent anticancer activity. The purpose of the study is to fabricate cyclodextrin nanosponges, for the delivery of curcumin using two crosslinkers, diphenyl carbonate (DPC) and pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA) and to study the influence on drug solubility, stability and cytotoxicity. Solubility studies were performed with assorted cyclodextrin to crosslinker ratio and with selected drug nanosponge stoichiometric complex. The drug-loaded nanosponges were characterized using DSC, FTIR, XRD and SEM. Pore size and surface topology of nanosponges confirmed the nanochannels available for the drug to get entrapped. In vitro drug release revealed 16 fold increase in dissolution by CUR-PMDA-CDNS compared to the pure drug against 5 fold increase by CUR-DPC-CDNS. The photostability of CUR was enhanced to 1.7 fold in PMDA crosslinked nanosponges. In vitro cytotoxicity study revealed increased toxicity of drug nanosponge complex to MCF-7 cells at a lower concentration. IC50 value of the drug (22.51 μg/ml) was reduced by 2.2 fold (10.44 μg/ml) by CUR-PMDA-CDNS as against 1.4 fold (15.92 μg/ml) decrease by CUR-DPC-CDNS. In conclusion, PMDA-CDNS was found to be a potential nanocarrier compared to DPC-CDNS for curcumin.