Green Synthesis of Curcumin Loaded Carbon Dots as a Sustained Drug Delivery for Anticancer Therapy.

Aims: To enhance curcumin's bioavailability with the help of carbon dot and piperine, due to its promising anticancer activity.

Background: Cancer is a disease condition, where some cells grow uncontrollably, and if not controlled, they spread to other parts of the body. Concerning anticancer agents, curcumin has anticancer properties along with anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antioxidant. Here in this study, the pharmacokinetic property was improved with the help of Carbon Dot encapsulation.

Objective: To improve the bioavailability of curcumin by improved encapsulation efficiency in carbon dots, to achieve a better cytotoxic effect of curcumin.

Methods: Bamboo leaves were used for the preparation of CDs and curcumin was loaded in them and the characterization for particle size, morphology, loading capacity, quantum yield, drug release in vitro studies, and in vitro cell viability activity as anticancer activity was done accordingly.

Results: Prepared CDs have a smaller particle size (< 10 nm), good loading capacity, stability, and excellent fluorescence activity. Studies on the release of curcumin have shown that a pH-5.5 solution leads to enhanced curcumin release. The CDs-curcumin shows enhanced toxicity against cancerous cells than the curcumin even at lower concentrations (20, 40, 60, 80,100 μM).

Conclusion: Curcumin can be delivered by CDs, which have the advantages of increased bioavailability, small size, high loading capacity, improved photoluminescence, and biocompatibility. These characteristics can result in improved anticancer activities even at low concentrations.