IIT Mandi researchers develop a new route – IIT Mandi (Indian Institute of Technology Mandi) researchers have developed a new route for incorporating curcumin into drug nanoformulations. The new route was developed along with Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (Kolkata).

Curcumin is the medicinal chemical present in turmeric. Their work has recently been published in an international journal, Crystal Growth & Design. It is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Chemical Society.

IIT Mandi researchers develop a new route

The team that did the work comprised Dr. Prem Felix Siril, Principal Investigator of the research and Associate Professor, School of Basic Sciences, IIT Mandi, and his research scholar Ms. Kajal Sharma, along with Dr. Bidisha Das from the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science.

Turmeric has been used as a food item in India for centuries, not merely as a condiment but also as a medicinal material.

Curcumin, a low-molecular-weight compound present in turmeric, has been reported to be the active medicinal principle because of its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative (tending to inhibit cell growth) and antiangiogenic (refers to pertaining to a substance that reduces the growth of new blood vessels needed by tumors) properties.

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Thus, curcumin is considered a potential drug for a variety of illnesses including cancer, cardiovascular problems and neurodegenerative disorders.

Despite promise and the extensive use of turmeric in alternative and lifestyle therapies, the development of mainstream drugs based on curcumin has been hindered by a few problems.

Curcumin, in its natural form, is insoluble in water, which makes it less bioavailable and hence difficult for the drug to reach the tissues and cells in which they are needed.

IIT Mandi researchers develop a new route

IIT Mandi researchers develop a new route – Furthermore, free curcumin is unstable, it is susceptible to fragmentation with time, especially in neutral medium. This leads to loss of efficacy of the drug.

Thus, the incorporation of curcumin in drugs depends on increasing the water solubility of the compound and enhancing its stability and bioavailability.

IIT Mandi researchers develop a new route

IIT Mandi researchers develop a new route – Dr. Siril and his team identified the reason for the water insolubility of curcumin. Curcumin, in its natural crystalline form, is poorly soluble in water, he explains.

Solid-state phase transformation of such molecules to the relatively less stable and more aqueous soluble amorphous form is a well-adapted formulation technique in pharmaceutical research, he said.

But the solution is not as simple as that. Amorphous materials tend to crystallise over time, which brings back the original problem, said Dr. Siril. To overcome this, the IIT Mandi team combined two approaches.

The researchers used Indomethacin, a well-known nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug to precipitate along with curcumin in order to stabilize it in amorphous form.

IIT Mandi researchers develop a new route

The combination is expected to have the therapeutic benefits of both curcumin as well as Indomethacin.

Additionally, they coated each tiny particle (nanoparticle) of Co-amorphous curcumin and indomethacin with a natural polymer called chitosan, which is extracted from shells of shrimps and other crustaceans.

The chitosan generate a hydrophobic (water repellent) covering around curcumin nanoparticles and prevent it from sticking to each other and forming crystals.

These two approaches improve two major problems aqueous stability and solubility” of curcumin and introduce an additional pH (Potential of Hydrogen) responsive release behaviour to the formulation.

This is expected to increase the chances of direct nanoparticle absorption through the intestine after oral intake and safe delivery of curcumin to the required site with minimal aqueous exposure.

The formulation did not recrystalise even after a whole year, said Ms. Kajal. These effects have been found to be a result of the intermolecular interactions between the curcumin, indomethacin and chitosan.

Our research shows that curcumin can indeed be incorporated into stable drug formulations for better therapeutic efficacy, said Dr. Siril, on the implications of their findings.

About IIT Mandi
Since the first batch of 97 students joined in July 2009, IIT Mandi has grown to currently host 125 faculty and 1,655 students who are enrolled in various programmes of studies in undergraduate, postgraduate and research programmes, and 1,141 alumni.

IIT Mandi is a fully residential campus with 1.4 lakh sq. m. buildings completed. It has a guest house with 88 rooms, an 750-seater Auditorium, campus school, sports complex and hospital.

IIT Mandi researchers develop a new route

IIT Mandi has four Academic Schools and three major Research Centers. The Schools are: School of Computing and Electrical Engineering, School of Basic Sciences, School of Engineering, and School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

The Centers are: Advanced Materials Research Centre (AMRC; set up with an investment of Rs. 60 crore), Centre for Design and Fabrication of Electrical Devices (C4DFED; has Rs. 50 crore worth of fabrication tools), and BioX Centre (has acquired research equipment worth Rs. 15 crore).

In 2017, the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, selected IIT Mandi to lead the prestigious Rs. 10 crore FarmerZone Project.

To cater to the growing and changing needs of Indian industry and the aspirations of students, IIT Mandi has introduced 7 B.Tech., 7 M.Tech., 5 M.Sc., 4 Ph.D., 1 I-Ph.D and 1 M.A programmes in the past 10 years.

The unique, project-oriented B.Tech. curriculum is centered around its 4-year long Design and Innovation stream. From August 2019, IIT Mandi started 3 new and unique B. Tech. programmes in Data Science and Engineering, Engineering Physics, and Dual Degree in Bioengineering.

S. Vishnu Sharma

S Vishnu Sharmaa now works with collegechalo.com in the news team. His work involves writing articles related to the education... (Full bio)