Application of nano-curcumin as a natural antimicrobial agent against Gram-positive pathogens

Abstract

Gram-positive bacteria cause various diseases from the superficial skin to deep tissue infections. The capability of causing numerous diseases is due to the production of virulence factors which are tightly regulated by the virulence genes. Various Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria e.g. Staphylococcus, Mycobacterium, and Listeria are capable of causing lethal infections in humans and animals. Conventional antibiotics, targeted antibiotics, and combinatorial drugs are used as therapeutic agents against Gram-positive pathogens. Due to intricate virulence pathway bacteria readily adopt resistance to available drugs. Therefore, there is need to develop some alternative approaches to combat these infections. Various natural extracts are effective against pathogenic bacteria with or without the available drugs. Curcumin is a natural extract of Curcuma longas rhizome, known as turmeric. Curcumin shows various biological activities such as antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. It also shows strong antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and few Gram-negative bacteria. Besides all these beneficial applications, major drawbacks of curcumin are poor aqueous solubility and less bioavailability. However, drug delivery approaches including nanoformulation are developed to increase its stability in vitro and in vivo settings. The present review article focused on the translation of potential applications of curcumin in various diseases specifically caused by Gram-positive pathogens. Various methods used for the formulations of curcumin nanoparticles, combinatorial strategies with curcumin nanoparticles and their application in the prevention of infections have been discussed. The present article also discusses the future aspects of curcumin-nanoparticles and its use as an alternative therapeutic approach against pathogens.