Chitosan tamarind-based nanoparticles as a promising approach for topical application of curcumin intended for burn healing: in vitro and in vivo study

Abstract

One of the most prevalent worldwide problems that affect all ages and genders is skin burn. The goal of our study was to assess the ability of curcumin nanoparticles to cure a rat burn model. Three formulations were selected after several tests were performed including investigation of encapsulation efficiency, particle size and zeta potential measurements. In vitro release was achieved on the three selected formulations. The effectiveness of the chosen formulation for healing was evaluated. The induced burn wound was smeared, starting just after excision, once daily with curcumin nanoparticles for 18 days. Our findings revealed that curcumin nanoparticles improved the burn healing potential by augmenting the skin regeneration indices as evidenced by enhancing the new production of hyaluronic acid and collagen type I. Additionally, curcumin nanoparticles could increase levels of vascular endothelial growth factor and alpha smooth muscle activity while drastically reducing the skin’s tumour necrosis factor content, revealing a significant potential for burn healing process that is also reflected in the histopathological and immunohistochemical studies. Finally, our results demonstrated that curcumin nanoparticles revealed a significant potential for burn healing than curcumin alone due to its potent antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Keywords:

• Burn
• curcumin
• nanoparticles
• particle size
• in vitro release

Author contributions

Eman S. Shalaby and Sally Aboutaleb: conceptualisation, methodology, investigation, formal analysis, data curation, validation, writing – original draft, data interpretation, writing – review and editing, visualisation, and resources. Ahmed A. Sedik: conceptualisation, methodology, investigation, resources, formal analysis, writing – original draft, and revising the article. Shaymaa A. Ismail: methodology, investigation, formal analysis and data curation. Noha N. Yassen: performing histopathological and immune-histochemical studies.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Data availability statement

Data will be made available on request.

Additional information

Funding

The research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or non-for-profit sectors.