Preparation, characterization and in vivo wound healing study of topical formulations of curcumin and quercetin loaded PLGA nanoparticles

Abstract

Different drugs and drug delivery systems have been widely investigated aiming at wound healing. However, the risk of infections is increased until complete healing due to antibacterial resistance against present treatment options and it requires regular wound dressings. The present treatment options are also limited, costly, inefficient, and have side effects Nutraceutical compounds are considered as an alternative to solve these issues. Nutraceuticals like quercetin and curcumin have antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activity which helps in wound healing. However, the use of these nutraceuticals resulted in low bioavailability due to poor solubility and abridged target specificity. These issues were resolved by loading curcumin and quercetin into PLGA nanoparticles. Curcumin and quercetin-loaded PLGA nanoparticle formulations have been investigated separately which resulted in increased solubility and improved bioavailability. In the present study, quercetin and curcumin-loaded PLGA nanoparticles were prepared in different ratios 50:50, 75:25, and 25:75 of curcumin and quercetin, respectively, and were characterized for particle size, zeta potential, and polydispersity index. The nanoparticle size was less than 250nm which is considered appropriate for drug delivery. Zeta potential was in the range of -1.83 mV to -3.2 mV that indicates the high stability of nanoformulations. Higher encapsulation efficiency from 64.84% to 88.48% in different formulations was achieved. These three different preparations along with standard drug povidone-iodine 10% were applied for 12 days on cutaneous wounds excised on rabbit’s thoracolumbar area. All formulations along with povidone-iodine were compared for wound contraction rate and wound healing time. Two-way ANOVA followed by DMR was applied to data to see the statistical difference between treatments. Wound contraction rate was in the following order T2>T1>T3>T4>C. Wound healing time was C=14 days T1=8 days T2=7 days T3=9 days T4=10 days. Therefore, it can be concluded PLGA loaded nanoparticles of curcumin and quercetin enhance the bioavailability of curcumin and quercetin and their wound healing potential.