Chitosan-Based Nanocarriers For The Release Of The Anticancer Drug Curcumin: A Review

Curcumin is a yellow polyphenol extracted primarily from the plant Curcuma longa, but also from several other members of the ginger family.Many nanoscale systems have been extensively used for drug loading and release to get around curcumin's low bioavailability and aqueous solubility, highlight its functional properties, and broaden its applications in the pharmaceutical industry.Chitosan has been used as a natural biopolymer extensively for many years. Its polycationic properties, biocompatibility, biodegradability, non-toxicity, and lack of allergenicity all led to studies on it. The main focus in the discovery of curcumin involves its anti-cancer properties. It is well known that curcumin inhibits the signal transmission of cancer cell growth and thus angiogenesis and also causes tumor cell apoptosis. The modification of chitosan for various applications can be easily achieved due to the abundant active groups (NH2 and OH) in the main chainFor the release of curcumin, numerous chitosan-based nanocarriers with distinct properties have been developed, including nanocomposites, nanoemulsions, nanotubes, and nanofibers. The controlled release of the drug is to maintain the optimal therapeutic concentration of the drug in the blood, which increases the shelf life and duration of activity of drugs with a short half-life. Controlled drug release makes the drug release rate predictable and repeatable for prolonged release drugs. Therefore, the development of colloidal systems for curcumin release encapsulation is a promising strategy to overcome the limitations of drug release. The physical and chemical characteristics of chitosan-based nanocarriers, including surface charge, morphology, encapsulation driving force, and release characteristics, are examined in this study and the effectiveness of chitosan-based nanocarriers for pharmaceutical applications is determined by these characteristics.