Curcumin-encapsulated nanoparticles as innovative antimicrobial and wound healing agent

Burn wounds are often complicated by bacterial infection, contributing to morbidity and mortality. Agents commonly used to treat burn wound infection are limited by toxicity, incomplete microbial coverage, inadequate penetration, and rising resistance. Curcumin is a naturally derived substance with innate antimicrobial and wound healing properties. Acting by multiple mechanisms, curcumin is less likely than current antibiotics to select for resistant bacteria. Curcumin's poor aqueous solubility and rapid degradation profile hinder usage; nanoparticle encapsulation overcomes this pitfall and enables extended topical delivery of curcumin. In this study, we synthesized and characterized curcumin nanoparticles (curc-np), which inhibited in vitro growth of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in dose-dependent fashion, and inhibited MRSA growth and enhanced wound healing in an in vivo murine wound model. Curc-np may represent a novel topical antimicrobial and wound healing adjuvant for infected burn wounds and other cutaneous injuries.From the Clinical EditorThis team of authors created curcumin nanoparticles in an effort to overcome curcumin’s endogenously poor aqueous solubility and demonstrated in a murine model its antimicrobial and wound healing properties that also resulted in growth inhibition of MRSA and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Curcumin was encapsulated into a silane-hydrogel nanoparticle vehicle (curc-np) to overcome native curcumin's poor solubility and investigate its potential as a topical therapy for wound infection. Curc-np demonstrated efficacy in vitro against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and inhibited MRSA growth and enhanced wound healing in an in vivo murine full-thickness burn wound model. These data suggest that curc-np may possess clinical utility as a novel topical antimicrobial and wound healing agent for infected burn wounds.Figure optionsDownload high-quality image (218 K)Download as PowerPoint slide