Iodinated curcumin bearing dermal cream augmented drug delivery, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities

Abstract

Objectives: Curcumin (Cur) exhibits weak microbicidal activity owing to high lipophilicity and low cell permeability. Therefore, in the present investigation, Cur was iodinated using elemental iodine (I2) to synthesise Cur–I2 powder that was later formulated as Cur–I2 dermal cream and characterised in vitro for antimicrobial and antioxidant activities.Methods and results: Electrophilic addition of I2 saturated the olefinic bonds of Cur, as confirmed by UV/visible spectroscopy, FT-IR, 1H NMR and DSC techniques. In addition, in vitro skin permeation and retention analysis indicated that Cur–I2 cream followed the first order and Higuchi model for drug release through the rat skin. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of Cur–I2 powder was measured to be 60 and 90 µg/ml significantly (p < 0.05) lower than 150 and 120 µg/ml of Cur against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, respectively. Moreover, Cur–I2 also exhibited strong antioxidant potential.Conclusions: Cur–I2 cream warrants further in vivo study to scale up the technology for clinical translation.