Influence of Oil Composition on the Transformation, Bioaccessibility, and Intestinal Absorption of Curcumin in Nanostructured Lipid Carriers

The influences of liquid medium chain triglycerides (MCT) and solid glyceryl tristearate (GTS) contents in the lipid matrix of nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) on their delivering capacities for Cur were investigated herein by simulated gastrointestinal tract and Caco-2 monolayer models.

The transformation of encapsulated Cur decreased with increasing MCT content in the lipid matrix of NLCs because the it facilitated their lipolysis and promote the exposure of Cur to the harsh exterior environment. Cur bioaccessibility was positively correlated with the level of micellized stearic acid resulting from GTS hydrolysis, which might be attributed to that it afforded large hydrophobic domains to accommodate Cur. This value increased with the increase of MCT content at first, reaching a maximum at 20% (w/w), and decreased thereafter. The intestinal absorption of micellar Cur ranged from 26.06% to 38.76%, and the majority of the transported molecules were its reductive and conjugative metabolites.

Overall, NLC containing 20% MCT in lipid matrix afforded the highest Cur bioavailability, followed by that containing 10, 0, 40, 60, and 100% MCT. This work provided useful insights into the rational designation of NLCs to optimize the bioavailability of loaded agent.

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