The main motivation of this project is to combine ibuprofen (chemical origin) and curcumin (natural-based origin) in liposomal formulation of an herbal-chemical anti-inflammatory and painkiller drug with reduced side effects.
Improving bioavailability of this product is vital, for instance curcumin has poor absorption and can bind to proteins, leading chemical instability, rapid elimination, and fast liver metabolism, while ibuprofen has poor solubility and absorption in small intestine. For this purpose, ibuprofen and curcumin have been co-encapsulated inside liposome.
DPPC (1,2-Dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) has been used as a polar liposome film, produced by a rota evaporator. Dihexadecyl Phosphate (DCP) which is a mixture of diesters of cetyl alcohol and phosphoric acid, was used to increase the liposome stability by inducing a negative charge.
Phosphate buffer solution (PBS) were used for hydration while chloroform and acetone were used as solvents that can mix curcumin with ibuprofen without any chemical reactions, while enabling encapsulation into liposomes. The prepared film which has co-encapsulated curcumin and ibuprofen, has been isolated and analysed using a variety of techniques to verify its physical and chemical characteristics. HPLC-UV analysis, H and C -NMRs were used for determination of curcumin and ibuprofen inside as co-encapsulated materials. Following using rota-evaporation, freeze-drying (thawing) cycles and sonications were implemented for size control with different times. Sample 1 was prepared using DPPC, cholesterol, DCP, ibuprofen, curcumin, and chloroform. In Sample 2, the amounts of DPPC, curcumin, and ibuprofen were kept constant; however, the amount of cholesterol was slightly increased, DCP was omitted, and mixture of chloroform (4 ml) and of acetone (1 ml) was used as the solvent. Furthermore, liposome encapsulation efficiency in Sample 1 was notably higher, with 92.01% of curcumin and 61.86% of ibuprofen retained, compared to Sample 2, where 88.38% of curcumin and only 38.37% of ibuprofen remained encapsulated. Co-encapsulating ibuprofen alongside curcumin within liposomes as a drug delivery system represents a novel approach that holds promise for the future development and formulation of hybrid phytochemical-synthetic combination drugs. This strategy may significantly enhance the bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy of such compounds.
