Objective: To prepare the long-circulating nanoliposomes of curcumin.
Method: The long-circulating nanoliposomes were prepared by ethanol infusion and the encapsulation efficiency was determindated by the mini-column centrifugation. The effect of some factors on the encapsulation efficiency, such as the buffer solutions, the weight ratio of curcumin to SPC, the weight ratio of SPC to Chol, the pH of buffer solution and the iron strength of water phase, was investigated respectively. Then the formulation was optimized by orthogonal design.
Result: The encapsulation efficiency of the curcumin liposomes was (88.27 +/- 2.16)%, and the average diameter of the liposomes was (136 +/- 18) nm. There was no change on encapsulation efficency within 30 d.
Conclusion: The preparation of curcumin liposomes was easy and practicable and the pharmaceutical characterization showed that the curcumin liposomes are stable.