Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - National Institute of Laser Enhanced Sciences - Department of Laser Application in Medical Biological

Curcumin (CUR) is a natural component derived from Curcuma longa L. that is known for its anticancer activity. Some problems limit the pharmaceutical usage of CUR, namely, low solubility, low bioavailability and photodegradation. However, being a photosensitizer, CUR stands as an attractive candidate for photodynamic therapy of cancer that overcomes major side effects associated with chemotherapy. Therefore, in this work, CUR was formulated into Nanostructures Lipid Carriers (NLCs) to enhance CUR cell penetration and effectiveness in cancer treatment. The work followed a 3x4 factorial design of two factors; one with three levels and the other with four levels. The first factor was the solid lipid type, where four solid lipids were used, namely, Peceol, Geleol, Compritol and Precirol. The second factor was the solid lipid to liquid lipid ratio which had three levels: 70:30, 85:15 and 95:5. Olive oil was chosen as the liquid lipid. Tween 80 and Lecithin were used as surfactant and cosurfactant, respectively. The factorial design resulted in 12 CUR-NLCs formulae that were prepared using High Shear Hot Homogenization method. The resulting CUR-NLCs were characterized by determining their particle size, polydispersity index, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency percent, drug loading percent and in vitro drug release

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