Size effect of curcumin nanocrystals on dissolution, airway mucosa penetration, lung tissue distribution and absorption by pulmonary delivery

Nanocrystals (NCs) have been introduced for use in pulmonary delivery in recent decades. Although the deposition and bioavailability have been extensively studied, little is known about the biofate, which influences the drug release and absorption process of NCs. In this study, we fabricated three different sized curcumin NCs by adjusting the parameters of mill machine using a wet milling method and studied the size effect on pulmonary absorption. The small nanocrystals (NC-S, 246.16 ± 21.98 nm) exhibited a faster dissolution rate and higher diffusion percentage in vitro compared with middle (NC-M, 535.26 ± 50.33 nm) and large nanocrystals (NC-L, 1089.53 ± 194.34 nm). Multiple particle tracking experiments revealed that NC-S had larger mean squared displacement during diffusion in simulated mucus of 0.5% hydroxyethyl cellulose solution. Moreover, enhanced cellular uptake and transport efficiency were achieved by NC-S in Calu-3 cells and an air-liquid interface culturing model. NCs were mainly absorbed in the dissolved drug form, as assessed by using the Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) technique. In vivo lung retention and distribution revealed that few smaller sized nanocrystals were retained in the lung after intratracheal administration. The pharmacokinetic study showed that the AUC(0-t) values of small sized nanocrystals were 1.75- and 3.32-fold greater than NC-M and NC-L, respectively. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that smaller sized nanocrystals were more easily absorbed into the blood system by increasing the dissolution rate.