Antileishmanial activity of nanoliposomes containing curcumin in vitro and in vivo

Curcumin possesses diverse pharmacologic effects including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiproliferative and antiangiogenic activities. The aim of this study was to develop liposomal formulation of curcumin and evaluate the leishmanial effects of its topical use against L. major in vitro and in vivo.
Nanoliposomes containing 1, 2 or 3% curumin were prepared by fusion method and characterized for their size, morphology and stability. The in vitro efficacy of liposomal form of Curcumin against promastigotes and amastigotes form of L. major was also evaluated. Moreover, the leishmanial effect of formulations was evaluated in infected BALB/c mice. The lesions were treated topically by different formulations twice a day, for 4 weeks. During this time and 4 weeks after treatment, lesions size was measured every week. The level of splenic parasite burdens was investigated in week 4 after parasite inoculation.
Curcumin showed no leishmanicidal effect against live promasigotes and amastigotes in culture media. There was no significant difference between treated and control animals regarding lesion size and splenic parasite burden.
The results of this study showed that nanoliposomes containing curcumin in topical form has no significant leishmanicidal effect in vitro and in vivo against L. major.