A special way of delivering curcumin
25 July, 2018
One of the first effects in glaucoma is the loss of retinal ganglion cells, which are a type of neuron found near the eye's retina, or the tissue that lines the back of the eye. Retinal ganglion cells receive visual cues, and they play a key role in healthy vision.
The loss of these cells leads to the deterioration of eyesight, but so far, scientists have not identified a viable means of preventing retinal ganglion cell loss in the initial stages of glaucoma onset.
In the new study, however, Cordeiro and colleagues noticed that curcumin eye drops did manage to reduce loss of retinal cells in a rat model.
However, since curcumin has poor solubility — meaning that it dissolves and gets absorbed into the bloodstream with difficulty — oral administration is no easy feat to perform.
So, in order to overcome this difficulty, the researchers developed a special nanocarrier made of substances safe for human use, and which have already been incorporated into some eye products.
This nanocarrier increases curcumin's solubility almost 400,000 times, and it can contain much higher quantities of the substance than other products under development. Moreover, it can deliver the substance right where it is needed via eye drops.
At first, Cordeiro and team performed in vitro tests of the curcumin-loaded nanocarrier, and they then repeated them in vivo, on a rat model with impending retinal ganglion cell loss.
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