NP’s are colloidal structures composed of synthetic or semi synthetic polymers. The aim is to control drug concentration in the target tissues or cells and eliminate undesirable drug level fluctuations in plasma. Curcuminoids, including curcumin-I (diferuloylmethane), curcuminII (monodemethoxycurcumin) and curcumin III (bisdemethoxycurcumin) are natural polyphenolic compounds isolated from the rhizome of turmeric (Curcuma longa). Due to the phenolic groups and conjugated double bonds, curcumin has been observed to possess high cytotoxic activity against tumor cells, strong antioxidant properties and anti - carcinogenesis against a wide range of cell lines. Despite well documented clinical benefits and safety profile, curcumin has limited pharmaceutical role owing to reduced water solubility, instability in alkaline condition, enzymatic degradation, high-metabolism and systemic clearance, hence poor bioavailability (<1%). Several strategies have been explored to enhance curcumin delivery including nanoencapsulation using milk polymers developed as bio-responsive drug delivery systems. Caseins are amphiphilic proteins which self-assemble into stable micellar structures in aqueous solutions. Casein micelles are composed of the four phosphoproteins held together by hydrophobic interactions and by the bridging of calcium phosphate nanoclusters (colloidal calcium phosphate, CCP) that are bound to phosphorylated serine residues of the casein side chains.
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