4^th European Biopharma Congress

Malignancies are the second cause of death in humans worldwide. Despite many newly introduced and approved targeted drugs,

the problem of multidrug resistance and serious side effects remain unsolved and open the search for effective natural products

with fewer side effects. Curcumin is a practically non-toxic compound of plant origin with own antineoplastic and NF-kB inhibitory

activities. Curcumin is one of the most popular drugs derived from Ayurveda traditions. We investigated the cytotoxic activity of

curcumin loaded electrospun mats in human hepatic and colon carcinoma cell lines (HEP-G2 and HT-29). Disks with 5 mm diameter

of the electrospun mats caused nearly 80% inhibition in HT-29 colorectal cells. The efficacy against the HEP-G2 hepatocellular

carcinoma cells was weaker. The mats showed antibacterial features and were found to be biocompatible with human tissues of different

origin. The tested polymeric mats increased the accumulation of curcumin inside of the malignant cells as estimated by fluorescent

microscopy. One of the polymeric mats represents fully water soluble form of curcumin that may have distinct pharmacokinetic

advantages. Taken together our experimental findings indicate that the non-toxic yellow pigment curcumin after inclusion into

electrospun polymeric mats can be used for topical treatment of liver lesions (e.g. colorectal cancer metastases) and these results are

promising in terms of further clinical application.