Curcumin (Cur) is a promising drug for neurological diseases. Nevertheless, the application of Cur has been limited due to its difficulty in penetrating blood-brain barrier (BBB). Intranasal drug delivery, a noninvasive alternative delivery of Cur, can effectively help Cur cross BBB and inert into central nervous system directly. Odorranalectin (OL) which is the smallest lectin can prolong the residence time of Cur in the nasal mucosa and promote cellular uptake. In this work, a nasal delivery system incorporating OL modified Cur-loaded nanoparticles (Cur-OL-NPs) was developed and expected to bypass BBB and promote the absorption of Cur. We conjugated OL to polyethylene glycol-poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PEG-PLGA), and combined polyethylene glycol-poly (γ-benzyl-L-glutamate) (PEG-PBLG) and OL-PEG-PLGA to prepare nanoparticles to improve the stability, bioavailability and targeting of Cur. Compared with unmodified NPs, increased efficiency of Cur-OL-NPs cellular uptake by Calu-3 cells had been obtained with no severe toxicity. Furthermore, in vivo pharmacokinetic studies also showed that Cur-OL-NPs had higher relative bioavailability. Thus, it is concluded that the results indicated that OL-NPs as carriers of Cur had a promising future in nasal drug delivery system.
Keywords: Nanoparticles; curcumin; intranasal delivery system; odorranalectin; pharmacokinetic study.