Strategies for Improving Bioavailability, Bioactivity, and Physical-Chemical Behavior of Curcumin.

Curcumin (CCM) is one of the most frequently explored plant compounds with various biological actions such as antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antineoplastic, and antioxidant/anti-inflammatory properties. The laboratory data and clinical trials have demonstrated that the bioavailability and bioactivity of curcumin are influenced by the feature of the curcumin molecular complex types. Curcumin has a high capacity to form molecular complexes with proteins (such as whey proteins, bovine serum albumin, ß-lactoglobulin), carbohydrates, lipids, and natural compounds (e.g., resveratrol, piperine, quercetin). These complexes increase the bioactivity and bioavailability of curcumin. The current review provides these derivatization strategies for curcumin in terms of biological and physico-chemical aspects with a strong focus on different type of proteins, characterization methods, and thermodynamic features of protein-curcumin complexes, and with the aim of evaluating the best performances. The current literature review offers, taking into consideration various biological effects of the CCM, a whole approach for CCM-biomolecules interactions such as CCM-proteins, CCM-nanomaterials, and CCM-natural compounds regarding molecular strategies to improve the bioactivity as well as the bioavailability of curcumin in biological systems.

Osseointegration of titanium scaffolds manufactured by selective laser melting in rabbit femur defect model.

The aim of this study was to assess the osseointegration of two series of titanium (Ti) scaffolds with 0.8 and 1 mm cell size obtained by Selective Laser Melting (SLM) technique. One of the series had the Ti surface unmodified, while the other had the Ti surface coated with silicon-substituted nano-hydroxyapatite (nano-HapSi). The scaffolds were implanted in the femur bone defects of 6 White Californian male rabbits: three animals were implanted with 0.8 mm cell size scaffolds and three animals with 1 mm cell size scaffolds, respectively. The bone fragments and scaffolds harvested at 2, 4 and 6 months were histologically analyzed using conventional light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for the qualitative evaluation of the bone tissue formed in contact with the scaffold. Both LM and SEM images indicated a better osseointegration for nano-HapSi coated Ti scaffolds. LM revealed that the compact bone formed in the proximity of nano-HapSi-coated scaffolds was better organized than spongy bone associated with unmodified scaffolds. Moreover, Ti scaffolds with meshes of 0.8 mm showed higher osseointegration compared with 1 mm. SEM images at 6 months revealed that the bone developed not only in contact with the scaffolds, but also proliferated inside the meshes. Nano-HapSi-coated Ti implants with 0.8 mm meshes were completely covered and filled with new bone. Ti scaffolds osseointegration depended on the mesh size and the surface properties. Due to the biocompatibility and favorable osseointegration in bone defects, nano-HapSi-coated Ti scaffolds could be useful for anatomical reconstructions.