Response Surface Methodology to Optimize the Preparation of Chitosan/Alginate Nanoparticles Containing Curcumin Diethyl Disuccinate

Abstract

Curcumin diethyl disuccinate (CDD) is a succinate prodrug of curcumin that hasbetter anti-colon cancer and antinociceptive activities than curcumin and improved stability in phosphate buffer at pH 7.4. However, formulation of CDD for pharmaceutical use is limited. Therefore, this study focused on preparation of chitosan/alginate nanoparticles containing CDD and optimization of the formulation using response surface methodology. Chitosan/alginate nanoparticles were prepared by o/w emulsification and ionotropic gelification. The optimized formulation of nanoparticles containing CDD had achitosan/alginate mass ratio of 0.05:1, a CDD concentration of 3 mg/ml, and a Tween 80®content of 4.05% (w/v). Response surface methodology was found to bean effective technique for optimization of the preparation of chitosan/alginatenanoparticles using a limited number of experiments.