DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION OF ORAL BIOADHESIVE NANOCURCUMIN DELIVERY USING NOVEL HYDROPHILIC CARRIER FOR CANCER TREATMENT: AN ALTERNATIVE TO PARENTERAL CHEMOTHERAPY

Present study involves the design and optimization of oral bioadhesive delivery system of curcumin. Solid dispersion of curcumin was developed using novel hydrophilic carrier, Gelucire® 50/13, by melt granulation technique. Based on HPMC K 100 LV(X1) and carbopol 934P (X2), bio-adhesive tablets containing curcumin solid dispersion was developed by direct compression, using central composite designs for two factors at three levels. Tablet formulation was optimized for t50%, Rel24h and bioadhesive strength. The drug release mechanism was found to be by fickian diffusion, approaching zero-order kinetics. Average plasma uptake of curcumin was found to be 0.289μg/mL as compared to plain curcumin tablet formulation. The results were found highly significant (p