Enhanced curcumin loaded nanocellulose: a possible inhalable nanotherapeutic to treat COVID-19

Nanocellulose/polyvinyl alcohol/curcumin (CNC/PVA/curcumin) nanoparticles with enhanced drug loading properties were developed by the dispersion of nanocellulose in curcumin/polyvinyl alcohol aqueous medium. Due to the physical and chemical nature of sulphuric acid hydrolyzed nanocellulose and the antiviral properties of curcumin, the possibility of using these nanoparticles as an inhalable nanotherapeutic for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is discussed. The adsorption of curcumin and PVA into nanocellulose, and the presence of anionic sulphate groups, which is important for the interaction with viral glycoproteins were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. FESEM images showed that the diameter of nanocellulose ranged from 50 to 100 nm, which is closer to the diameter (60-140 nm) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The solubility of poorly water-soluble curcumin was increased from 40.58 ± 1.42 to 313.61 ± 1.05 mg/L with increasing the PVA concentration from 0.05 to 0.8% (w/v) in aqueous medium. This is a significant increase in the solubility compared to curcumin's solubility in carboxymethyl cellulose medium in our previous study. The drug loading capacity increased by 22-fold with the addition of 0.8% PVA to the nanocellulose dispersed curcumin solution. The highest drug release increased from 1.25 ± 0.15 mg/L to 17.11 ± 0.22 mg/L with increasing the PVA concentration from 0 to 0.8% in the drug-loaded medium. Future studies of this material will be based on the antiviral efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 and cell cytotoxicity studies. Due to the particulate nature, morphology and size of SARS-CoV-2, nanoparticle-based strategies offer a strong approach to tackling this virus. Hence, we believe that the enhanced loading of curcumin in nanocellulose will provide a promising nano-based solution for the treatment of COVID-19.