Technological Interventions Enhancing Curcumin Bioavailability in Wound-Healing Therapeutics.

Wound healing has been a challenge in the medical field. Tremendous research has been carried out to expedite wound healing by fabricating various formulations, some of which are now commercially available. However, owing to their natural source, people have been attracted to advanced formulations with herbal components. Among various herbs, curcumin has been the center of attraction from ancient times for its healing properties due to its multiple therapeutic effects, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, neuroprotective, and radioprotective properties. However, curcumin has a low water solubility and rapidly degrades into inactive metabolites, which limits its therapeutic efficacy. Henceforth, a carrier system is needed to carry curcumin, guard it against degradation, and keep its bioavailability and effectiveness. Different formulations with curcumin have been synthesized, and exist in the form of various synthetic and natural materials, including nanoparticles, hydrogels, scaffolds, films, fibers, and nanoemulgels, improving its bioavailability dramatically. This review discusses the advances in different types of curcumin-based formulations used in wound healing in recent times, concentrating on its mechanisms of action and discussing the updates on its application at several stages of the wound healing process. Impact statement Curcumin is a herbal compound extracted from turmeric root and has been used since time immemorial for its health benefits including wound healing. In clinical formulations, curcumin shows low bioavailability, which mainly stems from the way it is delivered in the body. Henceforth, a carrier system is needed to carry curcumin, guard it against degradation, while maintaining its bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy. This review offers an overview of the advanced technological interventions through tissue engineering approaches to efficiently utilize curcumin in different types of wound healing applications.

Comprehensive Evaluation of Degradable and Cost-Effective Plasmonic Nanoshells for Localized Photothermolysis of Cancer Cells.

Integrating the concept of biodegradation and light-triggered localized therapy in a functional nanoformulation is the current approach in onco-nanomedicine. Morphology control with an enhanced photothermal response, minimal toxicity, and X-ray attenuation of polymer-based nanoparticles is a critical concern for image-guided photothermal therapy. Herein, we describe the simple design of cost-effective and degradable polycaprolactone-based plasmonic nanoshells for the integrated photothermolysis as well as localized imaging of cancer cells. The gold-deposited polycaprolactone-based plasmonic nanoshells (AuPCL NS) are synthesized in a scalable and facile way under ambient conditions. The synthesized nanoshells are monodisperse, fairly stable, and highly inert even at five times (250 µg/mL) the therapeutic concentration in a week-long test. AuPCL NS are capable of delivering standalone photothermal therapy for the complete ablation of cancer cells without using any anticancerous drugs and causing toxicity. It delivers the same therapeutic efficacy to different cancer cell lines, irrespective of their chemorefractory status and also works as a potential computed tomography contrast agent for the integrated imaging-directed photothermal cancer therapy. High biocompatibility, degradability, and promising photothermal efficacy of AuPCL NS are attractive aspects of this report that could open new horizons of localized plasmonic photothermal therapy for healthcare applications.

Plasmonic carbon nanohybrids for repetitive and highly localized photothermal cancer therapy.

Integrating metallic and non-metallic platform for cancer nanomedicine is a challenging task and bringing together multi-functionality of two interfaces is a major hurdle for biomaterial design. Herein, NIR light responsive advanced hybrid plasmonic carbon nanomaterials are synthesized, and their properties toward repetitive and highly localized photothermal cancer therapy are well understood. Graphene oxide nanosheets having thickness of ∼2 nm are synthesized using modified Hummers' method, thereafter functionalized with biodegradable NIR light responsive gold deposited plasmonic polylactic-co-glycolic acid nanoshells (AuPLGA NS, tuned at 808 nm) and NIR dye (IR780) to examine their repetitive and localized therapeutic efficacy as well resulting side effects to nearby healthy cells. It is observed that AuPLGA NS decorated graphene oxide nanosheets (GO-AuPLGA) and IR780 loaded graphene oxide nanosheets (GO-IR780) are capable in standalone complete photothermal ablation of cancer cells within 4 min. of 808 nm NIR laser irradiation and also without the aid of any anticancer drugs. However, GO-AuPLGA having the potential for repetitive photothermal treatment of a big tumor, ablate the cancer cells in highly localized fashion, without having side effects on neighboring healthy cells.