Introduction: Curcumin is a safe, affordable and natural bioactive molecule of turmeric (Curcuma longa). It has gained considerable attention in recent years for its multiple pharmacological activities. However, its optimum pharmaceutical potential has been limited by its lack of aqueous solubility and poor bioavailability. To mitigate the above limitations, recently various nanostructured water-soluble delivery systems were developed to increase the solubility and bioavailability of curcumin.
Areas covered: Major reasons contributing to the low bioavailability of curcumin appear to be owing to its poor solubility, low absorption, rapid metabolism and rapid systemic elimination. The present review summarizes the strategies using curcumin in various nanocarrier delivery systems to overcome poor solubility and inconsistent bioavailability of curcumin and describes the current status and challenges for the future.
Expert opinion: The development of various drug delivery systems to deliver curcumin will certainly provide a step up towards augmenting the therapeutic activity of curcumin thereby increasing the solubility and bioavailability of curcumin. However, the future of such delivery technology will be highly dependent on the development of safe, non-toxic and non-immunogenic nanocarriers.