(357e) Physicochemical Characterization of Curcumin-Polymer Nanoparticles and Behavioral Studies of Arthritic Pain in Rats

Physicochemical characterization of curcumin-polymer nanoparticles and behavioral studies of arthritic pain in rats

Sonal Mazumder^a*, Ashish K. Dewangan^a, Yamini Perumal^b, Naresh Pavurala^c, Kanwaljit Chopra^b

^a Department of Chemical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, Pilani Campus, Pilani – 333031, India

^b University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Panjab University, Chandigarh – 160101, India

^c Office of Pharmaceutical Quality, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland – 20993, USA

Rheumatoid Arthritis is a critical illness and is caused by systemic inflammatory disorder of the synovial membrane. Often the joints and cartilages are damaged, followed by loss of function. Curcumin (CUR), a plant-derived chemical and crystalline in nature is of interest in this study. Curcumin can effectively alleviate the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis like tenderness and swelling of joints compared to regular drugs. However, its utility as a therapeutic agent is limited by its poor absorption, rapid metabolism and rapid systemic elimination. Formulation of nanoparticles has been proved very much promising to increase absorption and bioavailability, leading to effective drug administration. In our study, curcumin was molecularly dispersed in amorphous polymer and nanoparticles were produced by a rapid precipitation technique. Dynamic light scattering showed the particle size was 170 nm. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) results showed that the drug in the nanoparticles was in the amorphous state. Drug loading efficiency in the nanoparticles was 74 ± 2.4 %. The drug from the nanoparticle showed higher release compared to the pure as-received drug. Release of drug from the nanoparticles followed Korsmeyer-Peppas and Higuchi equations.

The affect of nanoparticles were studied in rats induced with complete Freund’s adjuvant arthritis. Behavioral (pain) studies were conducted such as thermal hyperalgesia, mechanical hyperalgesia, mechanical allodynia, hematological assessment, radiographic analysis and various disease development parameters. Studies showed that nanoparticles have superior anti-inflammatory effects and could give faster relief from pain.