Florentin Michaux

Chitosan-coated liposomes encapsulating curcumin: study of lipid–polysaccharide interactions and nanovesicle behavior

Despite various spectacular therapeutic properties, curcumin has low bioavailability mainly due to its poor solubility in water. In this paper, we encapsulated curcumin by nanoliposomes prepared from salmon purified phospholipid and coated with chitosan. Various techniques were used in order to study the interactions among phospholipid, chitosan and curcumin. FTIR results showed both electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions as well as hydrogen bonding between chitosan and phospholipid, while hydrophobic forces and hydrogen bonding dominated the interactions between curcumin and phospholipid as well as between curcumin and chitosan. Shear viscosity measurements demonstrated a flow behavior change from Newtonian to shear thinning after liposome coating. The increase/decrease stress ramp showed that the addition of chitosan layer decreased significantly the hysteresis loop area (thixotropic behavior) and therefore increased significantly the liposomal dispersion stability. The viscoelastic properties investigated by small-amplitude oscillatory shear rheology demonstrated improvement of mechanical stability after chitosan addition. Small-angle X-ray scattering experiments revealed that the liposome membrane structure was not affected by the chitosan layer or the encapsulated curcumin.

Nonionic fluorinated-hydrogenated surfactants for the design of mesoporous silica materials.

We have investigated the influence of the ratio between the volume of the hydrophilic head (VA) and the volume of the hydrophobic part (VB) of the surfactant on the mesopore ordering. To understand the difference of behavior we have performed a complete study dealing with fluorinated [Rm(F)(EO)n] and hydrogenated [Rm(H)(EO)n] surfactants. Their mixtures have also been taken into account. Here only the phase diagrams and the structural parameters of the liquid crystal phases of the mixed systems are reported. We have shown that the mutual or partial miscibility of the fluorinated and the hydrogenated surfactants depends on the number of oxyethylene units of each surfactant. To follow, various systems were used for the preparation of silica mesoporous materials via a cooperative templating mechanism (CTM). Results clearly reveal that VA/VB ratios in the range between 0.95 and 1.78 lead to the formation of well-ordered mesostructures. Wormhole-like structures are obtained for higher or lower values. Moreover, results show that from the VA/VB point of view, polyoxyethylene fluoroalkyl ether surfactants behave like their hydrogenated analogues.