Riyaz Ali M. Osmani

Curcumin, an orange-yellow colored component of turmeric is a diarylheptanoid. It is the principal curcuminoid obtained from the rhizomes of the Curcuma longa plant (Zingiberaceae). It is a polyphenol product obtained from turmeric. It is been used in some medicinal preparation and even as a food-coloring agent. By the in vivo and in vitro studies it is confirmed that curcumin has antiviral, anti-arthritic anticancer, anti-amyloid, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. The present article highlights the role of curcumin in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It emphasizes on the oral, transdermal and parenteral routes of drug delivery systems and the emerging trends related to these delivery systems such as solid dispersions, cyclodextrin inclusion compounds, solid lipid nanoparticles, liposomes, micro nano emulsions, transdermal patches, topical gel and proniosomes etc.

Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) have emerged as a forefront drug delivery system with diverse potential applications in pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical research, nanomedicine and other allied branches of science. Recently, increasing attention has been focused on these SLNs as colloidal drug carriers for incorporating hydrophilic or lipophilic drugs. Proteins and antigens intended for therapeutic purposes can also be incorporated or adsorbed onto SLNs, and further administered by parenteral route or by alternative routes such as oral, nasal and pulmonary etc. Due to their unique size dependent properties SLNs offer possibility to develop new therapeutics. The ability to incorporate drugs into these nanocarriers offers a new prototype in drug delivery that could use for drug targeting. Hence SLNs hold great promise for reaching the goal of controlled and site specific drug delivery and hence attracted wide attention of researchers. Also the problems associated with conventional chemotherapy can be overcome by encapsulating them in SLNs. The present review focuses on SLNs brief introduction, utility in terms of their advantages, production methodology, characterization and applications and their possible remedies. Further investigation and research related to SLNs may open new vistas in nanotechnology and in therapy of multifaceted diseases.