Curcumin release from cerium, gallium and zinc containing mesoporous bioactive glasses

Curcumin is the main component of turmeric which is being used since centuries due to medicinal ben- efits with no side effects. In this paper, 80%SiO2–15%CaO–5%P2O5 mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBGs) containing two different concentrations of Ce2O3, Ga2O3 (1.0% and 2.0%) and ZnO (2.0% and 4.0%) (in mol%) were synthesized by evaporation induced self-assembly (EISA) method to investigate their potential as drug delivery system (DDS) for curcumin. Impregnation method was applied for incorporat- ing curcumin into MBGs and in vitro release was performed in simulated body fluid (SBF) at 37 °C up to 72 h. The substituted MBGs exhibited mesostructure and textural properties good enough for drug deliv- ery. Highest gallium and cerium substituted MBGs incorporated drug more than unsubstituted MBG (B_MBG) due to high affinity of curcumin towards hard Lewis acids. However, during in vitro drug release, B_MBG and lowest cerium, gallium and zinc substituted MBGs showed curcumin release that is capable to exert pharmacological activities. On the other hand, strong interaction between curcumin and substituent caused reduction in drug release from the other set of MBGs with negligible release from 2.0%Ga2O3. Furthermore, MBGs loaded with curcumin showed quick in vitro response except 4.0%ZnO. Hence, lowest Ce, Ga and Zn substituted MBGs can be considered as drug release system for curcumin because they showed higher drug release with quick in vitro bioactivity and the added values of the substituents.